D Gray Man: The Rogue Exorcist
by Ronnin-themanwithnoprinciples
Summary: A boy named Dylan had his first encounter with an akuma, one that killed his family and destroyed his house. The Earl shows himself to Dylan, but is turned down. General Cloud saves him from the akuma and Dylan obtains Innocence, His story begins.
1. Found, His First Akuma

**DISCLAIMER**

**I do not own D Gray Man or any of the contents except for the character Dylan and his Innocence.**

D Gray Man: The Rogue Exorcist

_1st Dusk: Found, His First Akuma_

He stared up at the giant monster, his parents dead, his family murdered the house in total shambles. Only he was left, and now it was his turn to die by the gun of this huge, ugly beast. The guns of this thing were now pointed at him, ready to fire at any given second. But something happened, he was no longer in the presences of the monster, he wasn't even in his destroyed house, the world around him was turned white, and there was nothing. For a moment he thought he might have died without realizing it. but then something and someone appeared in front of him.

The man was very fat and had an unusually large grin on his face, and he was wearing a strange looking suit, and his skin was an odd grey color. He was standing next to what looked like a skeleton you might find in a science room, but it was black and had a star on its head.

"Hello Dylan," The man said.

"W-who are you?" Dylan asked, sounding almost calm.

"I am the Earl, and I'm here because your family is dead." The man replied, and Dylan flinched at the mention. "I can help you bring one back, with this device right here." The Earl motioned to the skeleton. "All you have to do is stand in front of it and shout the name of the person you want back."

"You... mean it?" Dylan asked.

"Yes, without a doubt." The Earl replied, but then the look in Dylan's eye changed. "Is something wrong Dylan?"

"Yea, actually something is. If this works as well as you say, why can't I bring my whole family back, why just one?"

The Earl paused for a moment, and then answered. "Because it only works once for each person."

"Why did you have to think about your response just now?" Dylan asked, as if playing some sort of mind game with the Earl.

There was a longer pause. "It's just no one has asked that question before, it startled me."

"What exactly will happen to me and the one I call back?" Another pause.

"What do you mean?" There was a slight shakiness in the Earls voice.

"Why do you sound so nervous?" Dylan asked. "Are you worried I might not try your device? Why can't you do it? All you need to do is shout the name of the person in front of that thing, right? What was that thing that killed my family anyways? ... Why won't you answer my questions Earl?" Dylan was trying to get information out of the Earl, he always was cautious.

"You didn't give me time/" The Earl started.

"You start by answering the last question Earl? Why don't you start from the beginning, it's much easier that way."

"Why do you need to know brat? Just do it!" Immediately the Earl realized what he had just done.

"I don't think I need to call any of my family back, you know how the saying goes right? 'Their in a better place now.'" And with that the white world, the man, and the device vanished, and he was back in front of the monster with guns pointed at him. He knew he was about to die, he would have died even if he had brought someone back, they would be killed by the monster as well, and nothing would have mattered.

But just as the creature was ready to fire, something jumped on it, destroying it, and nearly blowing him away in the process. After a moment, he made out what the figure was; it seemed to be a huge monkey. And when Dylan looked in the direction it came from, he also saw a women in a purple shirt and white pants, she also had her blonde hair over her left eye. She was walking toward him, and he could tell she wasn't planning to hurt him.

When she got to him she kneeled down to be at eye level with him. "Are you OK kid?" She asked.

All Dylan could manage was a nod, still wondering what just happened, but after a moment he said, "I'm fine, and my name's Dylan."

"Hm, alright Dylan, my name is Cloud Nine."

"What was that thing?"

"An Akuma, creatures created by the Earl to reek havoc on humanity." Dylan was shocked by one thing she said, The Earl.

"Was that what that skeleton thing was for?" He asked her.

"Skeleton... Uh, wait, you meet the Earl?"

"Y-yea, he was saying something about helping me get one of my family members who got killed by that thing, the Akuma, back to life."

"He told you that and you actually refused?!" Cloud was completely shocked.

"He seemed dangerous, and I've always been the cautious type."

"Oh, is that it?" She asked rhetorically, practically laughing at his response.

"So does that mean whoever I called back would have become an Akuma?"

"Your a pretty sharp kid, you know that, I've never heard of anyone meeting the Earl and turning him down though." And then something started glowing in Cloud's pocket. "Uh, the Innocence is reacting?" She said and pulled out a strange, glowing box and held it for Dylan to see.

"What is that?" Dylan asked.

"This is the only thing in the world that can kill Akuma, Innocence, I have my own, and you just saw it at work." She motioned to the huge monkey. "Innocence will glow when it is close to its partner, as this one is doing now."

"Do you mean... I can use this?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, and if you do use this, you can become an Exorcist like me and kill Akuma too."

Dylan reached and held the Innocence in his hands. "What do I need to do to use it?" he asked.

"This is an equipment type Innocence, so you need to find some sort of weapon to put it in, and then you can use it."

"Find a weapon, that won't be hard, my family were weapon smiths, so this house is filled with things I can use."

"Alright then, go find something." Cloud said and Dylan got up and looked around for remaining weapons.

It took a few minutes, but Dylan finally stopped in front of a large sheet of metal. He had found his weapon; He could take vengeance for his family against the Earl. He was now an official Exorcist.


	2. Innocence Activate Multi Weapon Smith

_2nd Dusk: Innocence Activate, Multi-Weapon Smith_

Cloud and Dylan spent the night at an inn in town, and then left the next day. Before going to sleep, Cloud had spent a couple hours explaining everything about the Millennium Earl, the man who offered to bring one member of his family back to life, Akuma, the demon weapons infused with a human soul to destroy humanity, and the Black Order, who was formed to find Innocence users like them so they can fight Akuma and protect the world.

"Tomorrow we will travel to Central HQ, so we can have you officially join the Order." Cloud told Dylan.

"Right," Dylan replied.

"Alright now, get some rest, we got a long road ahead of us."

The next day they ate breakfast and set out immediately. "Sure you didn't have anyone you wanted to say good-bye to? You may not see this town again." Cloud remarked as they left.

"No, I didn't know anyone that well other than my family, so I'm fine." Dylan replied.

"OK then, after a few hours we'll stop to eat lunch."

While they were traveling, Cloud told Dylan a bit of what to expect at central, and a bit about her. Dylan also spoke about his own life. He said he was actually born and raised in a different city, his family only moved to the town they met a few weeks ago, which was why he didn't know anyone there very well.

He was 15 now, a good height for his age, with brown hair and blue-green eyes. He had told Cloud when they met he was a very cautious person, but he was also exceptionally calm for someone who witnessed an Akuma kill their entire family, but if she looked into his eyes, she could see that it really did affect him emotionally.

It had been about 3 hours when Cloud decided it was time for lunch, which she had packed before leaving town. While eating, Dylan asked, "How do we know an Akuma won't appear on our way to Central?"

"We don't, but if one does, it'll be a good chance to test out your Innocence, besides with me here, you don't have much to worry about."

"When you were talking about the Innocence, you mentioned that their strength is compared by the synchronization level between it and its user. So how high is yours?

"Hm, mine is over 100%, that's how someone becomes a General."

"Over 100%? Does the rate at which someone's synchronization level increase differ from person to person?"

"Yes, it mainly depends on how hard you train and how many Akuma you destroy."

"Is there a limit to how high the sync rate can go?"

"Hm, I'm not sure, if there is, no one's ever achieved it before. Any other questions?"

"Not really, that about covers everything I want to know." Dylan replied as they finished their meal and set off again.

Dusk was approaching now, it would take another 2 days to reach Central at the rate they were going. Cloud said they would come across a city tomorrow in the afternoon and spend the night there, then finish the journey the fallowing day. A few hours after the sun set, they set up camp and ate dinner.

When they finished eating, Cloud spoke. "Before we go to sleep, try activating your Innocence."

"Huh, why?" Dylan asked.

"Training with your Innocence is very important, just do it."

"OK then," Dylan replied as he took the large sheet of metal he had set his Innocence into off his back and held it in front of him. "Innocence, activate." He said, and as he did the shape of the metal plate began to change. It began to compress itself, very slowly, because of the low Sync-rate Dylan had with it at this point.

Despite the large size of the metal plate, Dylan compressed it into a normal sized sword, and it had a light glow on it. He tried swinging it around a few times.

"How does it feel, heavy at all?" Cloud asked.

"No, being able to change its shape is only one point. I can also change how heavy it feels and the overall density of it, so long as it stays at or under the original weight and density. I can't make it heavier."

"So you can make it into any weapon, right?"

"Yeah, swords, guns, nun chucks, gauntlets, shields, even a metal slingshot, as long as I know how it would be built, I can make it with this Innocence. And since my family had a business as professional weapon smiths, I know how almost all weapons are built."

"Impressive, OK then, time to get some sleep." Cloud said and she went into her tent.

Dylan swung his blade once more and it de-activated, immediately reverting to it's original shape. Dylan went to his tent as well, he wasn't as tired from all their traveling as most people would be. His family, as well as make weapons, also trained with them, so he was in great physical condition.

Everyone in his family rather enjoyed the work, Both his parents had taken an interest in it, and started their business right after they got married. He had an older brother and sister, who he got along with but they didn't get along with each other, he also had a younger sister who he sort of looked after. His sisters were 11 and 17; his brother would have turned 18 in a couple months and be able to live on his own. But had made up his mind long before he would stay with the family and the business after he was 18.

Dylan got to sleep very fast, and once he was he started dreaming about his family. They were all there, smiling and eating dinner, but once Dylan took a step forward, their faces seemed to melt away, the house was torn apart in fire, and he was reliving his moment of fear in front of the Akuma, its guns pointed at him, poised to fire at any given second. Then he was standing in the white room again, only this time he saw the Earl on his left side, and then when he looked to the other side, he saw Cloud.

The Earl said something, but Dylan couldn't hear anything, he saw that Cloud was in a fit, most likely shouting at him, trying to tell him something. The two were trying to reach him with their words, but they just dissolved in the air, never would they reach his ears.

"Help!" Dylan heard, suddenly realizing he was awake. It was still dark outside as he ran out of his tent to see who had called out.

He looked into the distance and saw a man running, for what reason was uncertain. Cloud had heard it too and come out as well. The man reached them and fell on his knees in front of Dylan.

"What's wrong?" He asked the man.

"I-I... need..." The man said.

"Calm down, what do you need?" Cloud asked.

"I-I need... BLOOD!" The man said as his skin suddenly ripped off, and revealed he wasn't a man, but an Akuma.

Cloud and Dylan jumped back immediately at the sight.

"Innocence, activate!" They both shouted.

Surprisingly, Dylan's Innocence activated at a good speed, it only took a few seconds for the metal plate to form into the sword again. Dylan charged first, then jumped and slashed the Akuma, but the wound was too shallow to kill it. He rolled away from the Akuma and got back to his feet, then started to change the shape of his Innocence again. It took a moment or two, but when he was done it was in the shape of a pistol.

He took aim as the Akuma turned around, and fired a single bullet at the scratch he had just made on it. The bullet smashed into it, but still didn't kill the Akuma. Cloud was just about to jump in at this point but saw Dylan grin with the bullet wedged in the Akuma. He was happy because it wasn't a normal bullet, and in less than a second the Akuma just strait up exploded. Cloud was amazed and shocked at what just happened.

"What did you do?" She asked.

"Remember how I can change the density of the metal, I used that to turn the metal inside the bullet into a substance that mimicked explosive powder, so after it got wedged into the Akuma, it would blow up." Dylan explained.

"That's pretty clever Dylan."

"That's what happens you're brought up making and training with weapons."

"Well, we better get back to sleep, we got a long day tomorrow." Cloud said as they deactivated their Innocence and went back to their tents for more sleep.


	3. Headquarters

_3rd Dusk: Headquarters_

Dylan may have lost some sleep over the Akuma thing that happened last night, but in a way he was glad about it. The dream he had before it happened was bizarre and almost felt real. They had arrived in the city Cloud mentioned they would spend the night in, and it was about time for dinner now.

After eating dinner at a fancy restaurant, which made Dylan feel uncomfortable since he never been in a place even have as fancy and would, and most likely did, stick out like a sore thumb in, the two found a local Inn and booked a couple rooms for the night. Once morning came around, they had breakfast in the Inn and set off for Central HQ.

"Holy..." Dylan said at the site of the huge building built on a Cliffside. "This is the Black Order?"

"That's right, a lot of us here call it "home" because it feels that way to us." Cloud states. "Shall we go in?"

The two approach the gate and stopped. "So how do we get in?" Dylan asked.

"First off you need to be examined by the Gatekeeper, then he lets us in." Cloud replies.

"Gatekeeper?" Dylan asked, not seeing anyone else there. But as he asks the giant stone face on the wall in front of him moves. "What the...?"

"X-ray examination," It says and its eyes seem to glow, and after a moment of pause the stone face pronounces. "He's human, open the gate." and at that moment the huge gate beside the stone face lifted up and he and Cloud walked in.

Dylan took in what the HQ was like, making sure to familiarize himself with everything. Cloud showed him around so that he would know where most of the important places were. After the majority of the tour Dylan was shown where he would stay while he was here, it was a pretty bland room, basically just a desk and a bed, it had a couple paintings on the wall, but there really wasn't anything in the room, he assumed all the rooms looked pretty much the same.

"Yo," Dylan was suddenly greeted by a man in white clothing and had purple hair. He also wore glasses and was holding a coffee mug with a bunny on it.

"Um, hello." Dylan said blandly, not knowing who he was.

"Dylan, this is the supervisor of the Black Order, Komui Lee." Cloud told him. "I have some business elsewhere so he will lead you where you need to go next."

"I see, well, pleased to meet you." Dylan said shaking his hand, then noticed that standing next to Komui was a young girl, probably around the age of 10 or 11.

"Oh, this is my younger sister, Lenalee." Komui said, noticing that Dylan was looking at her.

"Oh, that right? Well nice to meet you too, Lenalee." He said.

"Well then, shall we be going?" Komui said, starting out of the room with Lenalee, and Dylan fallowed.

"I suppose we're going to get my Innocence check out, Ms. Nine mentioned I would have to do that with someone named Hevlaska." Dylan asked.

"That's correct Dylan... Um, I didn't catch your last name."

"Aiken," Dylan said as the three of them got on a floating platform and went down like it was an elevator.

Dylan sitting next to the railings while they were going down, and he was watching Lenalee. There was a reason she caught his eye, she looked a lot like his own younger sister, and watching her with her own brother now, she reminded him of her even more.

When the platform stopped moving, Dylan stood up and looked around, but didn't see much. "Is this where Hevlaska is?" Dylan asked.

"That's right, here she is." Komui said, motioning behind him and when he turned he saw a huge holographic looking thing that could have been mistaken for an alien.

"Hello, child, I will look at your Innocence." She said, and in half-awe, Dylan took the metal sheet that contained his Innocence off his back and held it up. Hevlaska moved her tentacle-like hair and rapped them around him and his Innocence, raising him up and touching their heads together. "2%, 6%, 10%, 13%." She said before setting him back down. "13% is the highest syncro-rate you can achieve with your Innocence, a good number considering you've only had it a couple days."

"Well, does this apostle fulfill your desires?" Komui asked.

"Desires?" Dylan didn't exactly know what he meant.

"The Innocence this boy has been gifted with will grow into a most dangerous power indeed, properly nurtured- it will become a great aspect in our battle. But be it nurtured poorly, with anger, distrust, or distraught, it could prove to become a grave enemy. We can only hope this boy will not stray from the path." Hevlaska said before fading away.

Hevlaska's prediction shook Dylan a bit, and looked back Komui. "Well, that was an interesting prophecy now wasn't it?"

_He isn't the least bit affected by that. _"Uh, what did any of that even mean?" Dylan was really confused, he wasn't sure he actually got what any of it meant.

"It's the prophecy hidden in your Innocence, most of Hevlaska's predictions do come true. Basically, you will either end up being a great ally, or a great foe."

"Why would I betray the Order?"

"Don't know, like Hevlaska said, we'll just have to hope you don't stray from the path." Komui says before moving them back up.

"How is he so laid-back about this?" Dylan asks himself, sitting back down.

"That's just the way my brother is." Lenalee said, now next to him.

"Oh, hi Lenalee, you startled me. If you don't mind me asking, What's a girl your age doing in the Black Order?"

"Actually, I'm an accommodator with Innocence like you." This took Dylan by surprise, he didn't expect such young people to be accommodators.

"I guess age doesn't have much to do with Innocence." Dylan asked.

"Nope, I've actually been here since I was 6, The Order really just took me away, for the first few year I couldn't even leave." Lenalee explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Dylan said, but didn't dare ask why, seeing in her eyes it was to sad a memory for her, and was hurting just to tell him this much.

"It's alright, now that my Brother's here, it's a bearable life." She said, obviously feigning the smile she made at him, which only made him feel bad that she brought this up to him.

The rest of Dylan's first day at the Order was alright, he had also met some of the other Exorcists, including Sol Galen, Tina Spark, and Gwen Frere, who like him, were Cloud Nine's apprentices. Every now and then his mind would drift back to Lenalee, and how much she reminded him of his younger sister. Of his entire family, he probably talked most with her, half due to the fact he pretty much looked after her from the start. Right before falling asleep, he thought about it once more.

"Oh well," Dylan whispered to himself.

Tonight he had the dream again, of him in the Earl's white space with him to one side, and Cloud to the other. There was one slight difference this time though, it appeared that only Cloud was shouting this time, although he still couldn't hear either one. The Earl seemed more calm than the last time he had the dream, almost as if he was more confident then last time. He felt like the two were trying to persuade him to do something, but since he couldn't hear them, he didn't know what to do.

Despite not being able to hear anything, Dylan started grabbing his head like it hurt from trying to make a decision. He looked at the Earl for a moment, then over at Cloud, or where she was. Cloud had vanished, and now Dylan was sliding slowly toward the Earl. But before reaching him, he woke up to Komui shaking him, and he saw Lenalee was at this side.

"Komui, what is it?" Dylan asked, sitting up strait and rubbing his eyes.

"I didn't want to wake you up, but its 10:00 and time for your first mission." As Komui told him this, Dylan pretty much woke strait up and grabbed His Innocence, ready to go.


	4. First Mission, She Controls the Weather

_4th Dusk: First Mission, She Control's the Weather_

"So let me give you two a short briefing before you go off." Komui said. Dylan had been picked to go on this mission with Tina Spark, another one of Cloud Nine's apprentices.

Tina was American, probably about his own age, and had medium length black hair and brown eyes. From when he visited with her yesterday, he could tell she was a very free-spirited girl with no problem saying what was on her mind. She had a short blade strapped to her waist, which Dylan assumed must be her Innocence.

"You'll be heading for a town about 50 miles west from here, there have been reports of mysterious weather patterns happen there, but it doesn't stretch to any of the surrounding towns. It could summer, but once you enter the town perimeter, you would feel like you need a jacket. There's a good chance Innocence is involved, so we want you two to go investigate." Komui explained.

"Yes, sir." The two replied and turned to go out the door.

Dylan and Tina rush to the closest town then board a train for their destination. Tina found the conductor and told him they were from the Order, and he took them to a private car in the back of the train, first class.

"Do we always travel like this?" Dylan asked, looking at the perfect and clean room.

"Yup, the Order has a lot of supporters everywhere, so this is how we normally travel really." Tina answered, and Dylan whistled as a response. "We should arrive at our destination in a couple hours, make sure your prepared."

Dylan decided to nap off the trip, Tina brought a book to read along the way. After about one and a half hours, Tina shook Dylan awake.

"We're almost there, look." She said and pointed out the window. Dylan sat up and looked out in amazement. The whole trip they had nothing but blue skies, but in the distance they could see the town they were heading for was covered by storm clouds.

"Guess the stories are true. You really think Innocence is involved?" Dylan asked.

"More than likely it is. And if we're here, we can count on a few Akuma in the area." Tina answered.

"Okay, but that is a pretty big town, where are we supposed to look for it anyways?"

"My guess is that it's either high up, or somewhere in the middle of town. Those are both pretty likely locations, but it could be anywhere, So we'll start with places like that, then move on to searching the rest of town."

"This is going to take a long time, isn't it?"

"Faster you work, faster we get out of here lazy. We can split up to cover more ground."

"I'm not lazy, it was just a question. You don't always have to speak what you think you know."

"Just how I am, I can't help it." Tina said with a slight giggle.

The train finally stopped and they got off, instantly getting soaked in the rain.

"Dang, it really is pouring." Dylan noted when he stepped off.

"Man, I wish I brought an umbrella." Tina said, shivering in the cold of the rain.

"Give me a sec." Dylan told her and pulled his Innocence off his back, also confusing Tina. "Innocence, activate." He said, and the metal sheet started to bend and compress and once it's done it's in the from of a large umbrella.

"Ho, I thought you could only make weapons with your Innocence." Tina commented.

"No, I can make anything so long as I know how it's supposed to be made, making an umbrella is simple work." Dylan explained.

"That's pretty cool." Tina said stepping under the umbrella with Dylan.

"Hm, what are you doing?" Dylan asked her.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Tina inquired.

"Weren't you the one who said we should split up to cover more ground?" Dylan said, referring to back on the train when she called him lazy.

"Oh, you know I was just kidding about that." Tina said with an uncomfortable laugh.

"You never kid!" Dylan noted, partly messing with her for calling him lazy.

"Oh, OK, I'm sorry I called you lazy, but don't make me walk around in this freezing rain for it." she begged.

"Hee, no problem, I was just messing with you anyways." Dylan said.

"What, you so mean!" Tina told him.

"Yea, yea, just come on already." Dylan told her and the two set off.

Once Dylan and Tina got to the center of town they looked around trying to find some sign of Innocence being nearby. They looked pretty much anywhere they could reach. After about 30 minutes, they decided the Innocence wasn't around here. Dylan looked up at one of the houses and saw a window open, which was extremely odd considering the weather still being so bad. In fact he and Tina had barely seen three people on the street since they entered the town.

But almost 2 seconds after the window opened, the raining stopped. and it wasn't a just a quick decline either, it just dead stopped, and the sky completely cleared almost the same instant. He saw a girl, maybe 13 years old with long, flowing brown hair stick her head out of the window, and after a few more moment, a few dozen people came out of their houses for the good weather period.

Dylan de-activated his Innocence and set it back on his back. "So Dylan, ready to go check out the high places in town?" Tina asked.

"Huh," Dylan snapped back. "Oh, um, go on without me, I'll catch up." Dylan told her, and she shrugged and walked off. Dylan looked back up at the girl in confusion, wondering why she opened her window just seconds before the weather cleared up, as if expecting it too right then. It was time to do some investigating.

Dylan didn't want to just go in and ask if he could talk with her. He wanted a bit stronger evidence that she had something to do with the Innocence before doing that. So he activated his Innocence again, then turned it into a long, hallow cylinder that stretched up near her window and pressed it against the wall. Using this, he might hear her say something that would point out she really does have something to do with Innocence.

He had been at this for almost 45 minute but so far he hadn't heard anything suspicious. In fact he didn't hear anything he particularly cared about. He had just heard her say stuff about the make-up she was applying. Talking to one of her friends about boys and stuff he frankly didn't need to ever hear. After a few more minutes Tina found him and she was panting slightly.

"Where were you? You said you would catch up with me." She said angrily at him, but he shushed her, only getting her more upset. "What is/" She started, but couldn't finish before he shushed her again. She saw the metal pipe and looked up at where it was, then got a displeasing look on her face. "What are you doing?" She asked sounding irritated."

"I'm going to go ahead and answer the questions you have in your head for you so you don't waste your breathe asking them. Yes, it's a girl's room; Yes, I'm listening in on her; but no, it is not mindless spying, it might help us find the Innocence. Unless, you already found it that is." Dylan said.

"No, I didn't find it, so what's going on?" Tina asked, sitting down next to him.

"OK, well when we were searching this place earlier, I noticed this girl open up her window right before all the rain stopped, literally right before. I found that odd, so I'm listening for something that could point to her having something to do with the Innocence before I go and disturb her family." Dylan explained.

"So how's it going?" Tina asked.

"Nothing of value or interest." Dylan replied with a scowl. He got the metal pipe to a position so both of them could hear her now, and just then, they heard what they were waiting for.

"Hm, this good weather is starting to get a little boring, I'm in the mood for a big, strong wind." The girl said, and just a moment later Tina, Dylan, and everyone else in the town felt a great rush of wind sweep past them, and it didn't stop, this was what the weather was going to be like for a while now, they both knew it. This girl can control the weather; she was using the Innocence.


	5. Vanessa's Hatred for the Innocence

_5th Dusk: Vanessa's Hatred for the Innocence_

Dylan de-activated his Innocence and the two of them stood up. "Looks like she really is controlling the weather!" Dylan had to yell to make himself heard over the wind.

"Yea, looks like it, so what do we do now?" Tina asked.

"Fallow my lead!" Dylan told her and he walked up to the houses front door, then banged on the door. When someone opened the door, they were also struck hard by the wind. "May we come in ma'am?!" Dylan asked the women who opened the door.

"Um, yes, come on in." She told them, understanding why they would want to get out of the wind. Once they were both inside, the women closed the door and locked it to make sure it wasn't blown open. All three of the people were panting from fighting against the wind.

"Thank you," Tina said.

"Not a problem," replied the women. "So, can I help you two with anything?" She asked.

"Yes, actually we're travelers, and was wondering if we could stay the night here." Dylan told her, so they wouldn't seem too suspicious.

"Oh, well that's alright then, I guess with that wind, it would be hard just getting to an Inn."

"Well there's that, then there's the fact we don't have enough money to afford an Inn." Dylan told her, needing an excuse to stay even if the weather cleared up."

So then, what are your names?" The women asked.

"I'm Dylan and this is my friend Tina. May I ask your name?"

"Diana Jones, come on in, let me show you around the house." Se told them and the two fallowed her to a living area where a man was sitting on a couch watching T.V. "Hey honey, we have a couple of guests." She told him as he turned around. "This is my husband Larry. Larry, this is Dylan and Tina, their going to be spending the night with us."

"So, is it just you two living here?" Tina asked.

"No, we have a daughter, she's in her room right now, come on, I'll introduce you." Mrs. Jones said leading them upstairs then to a door, then knocked on it.

"Come in." A voice said, and she opened the door, showing the two inside.

The room itself was pretty bland, the walls were a good shade of beige, then there were a few dressers, a couple desks, and two beds. The girl was sitting at a desk drawing something when they came in.

"Vanessa sweetie, we have a couple of guest that will be staying with us tonight." Mrs. Jones told her daughter and she got up to greet them. "This is Dylan and Tina. Their travelers."

"Hello," Vanessa greeted them.

"Tina, you can use the spare bed in here. Is that okay Vanessa?"

"Sure mom," Vanessa replied.

"Dylan, you can use our guest room down there." Mrs. Jones said pointing to a door at the end of the hall. "We'll have dinner in bout ten minutes, make yourselves comfortable."

"Sure thing Mrs. Jones." Tina said, entering Vanessa's room.

Dylan went to look at the guest room, he didn't want to go into Vanessa's room, it would feel awkward after having listened in on her for almost an hour. The guest room was more bland than Vanessa's room. It had a wooden floor and white walls, there was a single bed and a small hamper for clothes. It _was_ just a guest room, no one would have complained.

"So how do you like the town so far Tina." Vanessa asked as she looked around the room.

"Seems like a nice quiet town where everyone gets along. It makes me happy being here, it really reminds me of my own hometown." Tina answered, shifting through the room looking for any sign of the Innocence. "Do you like living here with these strange weather patterns?"

"A lot of people say it's a bad omen, but I really enjoy how the weather's always changing." Vanessa answered.

"Really, why's that?"

"I've always found myself getting bored if something stayed the same too long, with the weather changing so often, it keeps me excited."

"I see," Tina said as Mrs. Jones knocked and entered the room.

"Time for dinner you two." She told them, then they all went downstairs to eat.

While they were eating, Mrs. Jones asked, "So Dylan, Tina, why are you traveling?"

"We're actually part of an organization that travels all around the world looking for items of value or interest." Dylan told them, not really lying, just being vague.

"Oh, any items in particular?" Mr. Jones asked.

"Yes, we're not really supposed to tell others about what they are though." Dylan said.

"How rare are these items?" Vanessa wanted to know.

"Very rare," Tina answered. "Extremely hard to find, but once you lay eyes on it you know it's what you've been looking for. It's quite breathe taking to look at in it's natural state."

"Natural state? Meaning these items are created in nature?" Mrs. Jones asked.

"You could put it that way, but it's not entirely accurate. There's a limited number still left in the world, and the number can't increase." Tina said.

"And I'm going to have to stop you there, like I said earlier, it's not something we're generally allowed to talk about." Dylan told them.

"Oh, don't worry, we understand completely." Mrs. Jones said.

After they all finished dinner, Dylan went back to the guest room and Tina went back to Vanessa's room with her. Tina went strait back to looking around for a sign of the Innocence. Vanessa went to her window and stood there for a moment.

"Oh look, it's snowing now." She said, and of course it was.

"Oh, I always loved to play in the snow when I was young." Tina said, but didn't stop her search.

Tina got around to one of the desks, on top of which was a bunch of drawings. "Oh, did you draw these?" She asked.

"Yea," Vanessa answered happily.

"Wow, there really good." Tina remarked, and it wasn't a lie at all. The pictures were extremely detailed and colored beautifully. Young children might have looked at them thinking they were photographs. After looking through some of the drawings, Tina came across one that really caught her attention. It appeared that Vanessa had drawn herself from a couple years back. She was in the woods, was wearing a pretty dress and was on her knees, and she had her hands branched out to what really caught her attention... Innocence.

The picture would have been found very calming with the sunny day drawn in the background, but Vanessa was crying in the picture while she had her hands reached out to the Innocence. She set the drawing down, about to comment to Vanessa, but then realized that underneath it, she had drawn the picture again. It was the exact same picture with just one minor difference. Instead of a sunny day, it was raining.

Then she saw another where it was windy, another where it was snowing, one more where it appeared to be very hot, and more, each picture having a different state of weather, but other than that, they were the exact same.

"Um, Vanessa," Tina turned around starting, but Vanessa was right by her now. Her face looked almost emotionless as Tina was looking at these pictures.

"Can you keep a secret?" Vanessa asked, but without waiting for an answer opened the desk drawer to reveal the glowing fragment of Innocence she and Dylan had been looking for. "Those picture are of 2 years ago, I drew them because I marked getting this little cube that could control weather as the best day of my life, I wasn't sad that day at all."

"But, if you weren't sad, then why did you draw yourself crying in all of these?" Tina asked.

"The next day, I had decided I wanted to draw my happiest moment, so I started, at first I didn't draw myself crying, I could remember everything of that moment, but when it came for me to draw the sky in the background, I realized, I couldn't remember what the weather was originally like when I got this glowing cube." Vanessa said. "So I drew a ton of that picture, each with a different state of weather, and I added tears on my face, because now I'm not sure if that was the happiest moment of my life, or my saddest."

"Oh, Vanessa, I'm/"

"You and Dylan are looking for this aren't you, this is what you came here to get isn't it? Your going to take it away." Vanessa asked, tears coming to her eyes.

"No, no, since you can use it, we want you to come with us."

"The reason I keep using it in the first place is because I'm trying to remember what it was like when I first got it, I might just get rid of it if I finally did remember. It should just disappear!" Vanessa shouted, picking the Innocence out of the drawer and throwing it to the other side of the room.

Then, almost as if trying to grant her wish, the roof was suddenly broken off, and in came an Akuma, and it's gun was pointed at the Innocence, about to destroy it.


	6. A Day Like This Seek and Destroy

_6th Dusk: A Day Like now; Seek and Destroy_

The Akuma pointed it's gun at the Innocence, and in response to the noise, Dylan and Vanessa's parents ran in.

"Dylan, get them out of here!" Tina shouted, and Dylan didn't hesitate in picking up Vanessa and getting her and her parent's out of the room. "Innocence, activate." Tina shouted as she pulled out her short sword, then jumped at the Akuma as it was just about to fire and destroy the Innocence.

Tina got up there just in time, she swung her blade down and around to the Akuma's cannon right as it fired, so her blade cut the bullet in half, and just barely avoided the Innocence being destroyed. She cut the Akuma, but didn't get through enough to kill it, her primary thought was to save the Innocence. She grabbed the Innocence then flipped back from the Akuma before it had time to fire another shot. After putting the Innocence in on of her pockets, she hit the side of her blade with a bracelet she was wearing and it emitted a high pitch noise that disturbed the Akuma and gave Tina an opening to attack, which she did, jabbing it with the blade and killing it.

She celebrated until she noticed a panic in the streets and that two more Akuma were chasing Dylan and Vanessa's family.

"Run, I'll hold them off." Dylan pulled his Innocence out and activated it, but just used it as a shield from the Akuma bullets to protect Vanessa and her family, as well as let any other bystanders who were in panic get away. Hopefully his Innocence would hold out, it would be impossible to move without getting hit, so he would have to wait for Tina. After a minute or so Dylan heard a high pitch sound that sounded like they should have blown out his eardrums, but surprisingly didn't have any affect on him. Rather, the two Akuma ceased fire, apparently aggravated by the sound.

"Dylan, kill them fast!" Dylan heard Tina yell, and Dylan morphed his Innocence's form as quickly as he could into a sword then jumped swinging it to kill one of the Akuma just as the noise faded away, and the Akuma pointed it's gun for Vanessa.

"NO!" Dylan shouted as he jumped in the way and blocked the bullet as the Akuma fired, then ran at it. He noticed Tina was running at it from the opposite side as well. Both of them jumped and together cut the Akuma in half, killing it. They deactivated their Innocence, then walked over to Vanessa and her parents. "Cat's out of the bag now." Dylan stated.

The five of them went back to Vanessa's now destroyed house and sat at the dinner table while Tina and Dylan explained what really happened out there. They explained what Akuma are and about the Innocence Vanessa had been hiding since she found it two years ago, and was using it to control the weather.

"Vanessa is compatible with the Innocence, so we would like her to come back with us to the Order and become an Exorcist." Dylan said.

"Actually..." Tina said, as if Dylan was wrong. "It doesn't seem she's compatible with it anymore."

"Huh, what do you mean I'm not?" Vanessa asked.

"Well, each Innocence picks its user, normally, it only becomes compatible with a different person when it's current owner dies, but it seems you have a different case."

"Why is that Tina?" Dylan asked.

"I'm not completely sure, but back when Vanessa showed me the Innocence in her room, she got extremely sad and threw the Innocence, declaring 'It should just disappear.' The way I see it, this caused a disturbance in your compatibility, and the Innocence became incompatible as a result from your anger for it." Vanessa looked sad at this information.

"Although you did hate it, it would appear you had a change of heart now." Dylan realized.

"I'm sorry, Vanessa," Tina said. "All you wanted to do was remember what the day you got this originally was like."

Vanessa shock her head then replied, "Actually, I do remember now, it was a day just like it is now... It was snowing." She said, now smiling as all of them looked outside at the snow that was really just an aftermath of the last use of the Innocence, and would surely fade in a few hours or so, as would the ever-changing weather of this town forever.

Tina and Dylan finally arrived back at Central HQ after a couple days of travel and rest, and then reported in to Komui about what happened. After reporting in, they were taken down to Hevlaska to give her the Innocence they recovered, afterwards they got a hot meal, a warm bath, and some much deserved sleep. Dylan fell asleep almost in an instant, but he would wish he hadn't once he woke up, because he had his dream again.

There he was in the white realm with the Earl and Cloud on either side of him, shouting words that wouldn't seem to leave their lips. Dylan grabbed his head even though it didn't actually hurt, then realized what would happen next. He looked to the side, hoping Cloud would still be there this time, but she wasn't, and he was found once again drifting toward the Earl. It felt like forever before he reached the Earl, and was found staring up at him.

_"Why is this happening?"_ Dylan tried to ask, but the words didn't exit his mouth, just like they never left the Earl's or Cloud's. Then he woke up. The dream was progressing further and further every time he had it, he assumed eventually he would be able to hear the voices, maybe understand why he was having it in the first place.

After Dylan ate breakfast, he was called in by Reever Wenham, the section leader of the Order's science department, to see Komui. When Dylan arrived, there were many people gathered, most he knew already, but there were two he didn't know yet.

"Thank you all for coming," Komui said as Dylan walked up, he noticed Lenalee was also here again, and he was starting to wonder if she ever left her brother. "I know this is an unusually large sized group for a mission, but this mission is also large in size."

"So what is the mission?" One of the guys Dylan didn't know asked. His hair was strangely long for a boy's, and was black, he was probably his age, and he had a face that just shouted he wasn't a people person.

"Right Kanda," Komui said, so apparently Kanda was the guy's name. "This isn't a mission about finding Innocence, it's more of a seek and destroy mission."

"What do you mean?" This time the other guy Dylan didn't know asked. This guy looked friendlier than Kanda. He had his black hair gelled back with just one bang hanging down the front of his face, and looked about Komui's age if not older. He was standing next to Lenalee.

"We have gotten intelligence from a finder in a city quite a long way away from here, that there is a city practically overrun with Akuma." Komui answered, shocking everyone in the room. "This is a mission to find and kill as many Akuma that you can, but if it gets too hard out there, you are to retreat immediately."

"How far away is it?" Sol asked, one of Cloud's apprentices, Tina and Gwen were also here. Sol was 20 years old, Hebrew, and had dark brown hair. He had a very muscular build, and was very 'By the Book' in the way he did his missions from what he heard. He also had a parasitic type Innocence apparently.

"The city is Northeast from here, to reach it, you will all take a train that will take you to a village where one of our supporters will give you a ride across a lake. The city is on the opposite side of the lake. It will take at most 10 hours to get from here to there."

"So all 7 of us will be going then?" Gwen asked. Gwen was English, had long, red hair and was the eldest of Cloud's apprentices. She had seemed pretty strict at first, but Dylan had learned she still had a sense of humor. As of yet, Dylan hadn't seen Gwen's Innocence, but had been told it was an equipment type.

Dylan was surprised to hear her say "7" because there was just her, him, Tina, Sol, Kanda, and the man with brown hair. But then he remembered, Lenalee was an Exorcist too, which meant she was coming on this mission as well.

"That is correct Gwen. Now Dylan," Komui said turning to him. "You know most of these people, and heard me say one of their names, so let me properly introduce you to them. This is Kanda, and Suman Dark. Both of you, this is Dylan Aiken, he joined the Order only about a week ago."

"Nice to meet you." Suman said, but Kanda just scoffed.

"Likewise," Dylan replied to Suman, but was unsure about Kanda.

"OK then, that's pretty much it all of you, get going immediately." Komui told them.

"Roger," They all said, and the seven of them left for the train they needed to catch.

After arriving at the train and getting their first class cars, everyone mostly talked about the mission ahead of them. After pretty much discussing everything they could, Dylan tried to learn more about Suman and Kanda.

"So Suman, Kanda, what are you two like, how long have you been in the Order?" He asked, but all Kanda did was scoff at him, which would have annoyed most people, but Dylan just raised an eyebrow in question.

"There's not much to know about Kanda here," Suman said, answering for Kanda. "Basically, don't get in his way, because believe me he wouldn't have a second thought about cutting you up if you gave him a reason. As for me I joined the Order only a few months ago. Although I didn't really want to join; I did so I could pay of my daughter's medical fee.

"What about you, why did you decide to join the Order?" Suman asked.

"Me," Dylan wasn't actually sure how to answer that. "I don't actually know."

"Hee, don't even know why you joined, you're a strange one."

As Komui had thought, it took them almost 10 hours to get through the train ride and across the lake, then finally they arrived at the city. "So how do we do this?" Dylan asked.

"With our Exorcist outfits, it won't take long before the Akuma realize we're here." Suman answered.

"But remember, there should still be some humans left in this city, so we can't simply announce we're here, or it would put all of those people in danger." Gwen stated.

"I see," Dylan said. "Should we split up to cover more ground or stay together?"

"Of course we're going to split up," Kanda said as if Dylan had said something idiotic. "You six will split into groups of two and then we'll all go different directions."

"Huh, but what about you Kanda?" Dylan wondered.

"Believe us, Kanda will be fine on his own." Everyone else said at the same time to him like it was common knowledge he should have known.

They walked into the city and examined the people some, looking for some that looked nervous going through their daily routine, because these people would most likely be the ones that were still human. They got to a part where they would split up, but then some people got in their way.

"Oh, those jackets," One of them said.

"Yea, they're from the Order, Exorcists." Another said.

"Forget the citizen's, I want to kill them. A third said, and then the people around them all ripped out of their skins revealing themselves as Akuma.

"Like you said Suman, didn't take them long." Dylan said as everyone pulled out their Innocence. "Time to get this show on the road."

"Innocence, activate!" Cloud's four apprentices shouted. Dylan's metal sheet morphed into a hammer, Tina activated her Innocence, Sol's arms became very large and metallic, Gwen pulled out a pair of brass knuckles and upon activating them, they grew twice as big and gained spikes.

"Mugen, activate, " Kanda said running his fingers across his blade and the blade glowed.

"Dark Boots, activate," Lenalee said, and the heel of her boot glowed.

"Innocence, activate," Suman said and his hand became a sort of gauntlet with what appeared to be a kind of gun on top.

"Let's do this." Dylan said.

o do in Barcelona.


	7. Akuma Level 2

_7th Dusk: Akuma Level 2_

The seven Exorcists activated their Innocence as the Akuma realized they were here and prepared to attack them. In a chain reaction, Akuma that saw the first few transform also transformed, so dozens of Akuma were already around them, and panic had arisen with those that were still human, but with the chaos, the Akuma would have many of them killed soon.

Tina hit her bracelet against her Innocence blade to create the high pitch noise that only affected the Akuma, so the others could destroy some quick and easy to get a head start. Everyone attacked and killed the immediate group of Akuma then split up into random groups of two like Kanda had told them to. Tina went with Gwen while Sol and Suman paired up, leaving Lenalee and Dylan who went off in another direction, while Kanda stayed where he was.

Lenalee's "Dark Boots" were actually allowing her to fly next to Dylan. Lenalee kicked one of the Akuma to kill it while Dylan swung his hammer killing three Akuma simultaneously, then changing it's form to a sword.

"My Innocence is really starting to get easier to use." Dylan said as he and Lenalee killed another couple of Akuma.

"That's how you know your syncro-rate is getting higher." Lenalee told him. "Good thing too, the higher everyone's syncro-rate is, the easier this job will be."

"Yea," Dylan agreed, killing another Akuma, then seeing another Akuma about to fire at a human. He reached the Akuma just in time and killed it saving the man, who was shaking in complete terror. "Run!" Dylan told him and he didn't waste anytime getting up and running away after that.

Lenalee killed another few Akuma and Dylan caught up with her, killing a couple more when he did.

Gwen and Tina were able to kill Akuma slightly faster with Tina's Innocence ability, which she called "tuning fork," to disrupt the Akuma around them and leave them wide open. Tina noticed that the higher her syncro-rate got, the longer she could keep the sound going, and the wider a range it could reach, so her ability was very useful to the Order. Gwen was very fast, so almost as soon as Tina disrupted the Akuma, she could kill them, which made them the best team here at the moment.

"Keep it up Tina," Gwen told Tina as she killed four more Akuma. "We're doing great."

"I know, but as easy as this may look, doing this over and over is really exhausting my Innocence." Tina said and struck her blade with her bracelet again, and Gwen killed another five.

"I know, but you've got to try and keep it up. There are lives depending on this." Gwen told her.

Suman and Sol were both parasitic types, which made them both immune to the Akuma's poison, so even though Tina and Gwen may have been the best team, they were no doubt the strongest. Sol used his Innocence's brute strength to easily eliminate Akuma quickly, and Suman could destroy multiple Akuma at once with his wind attacks.

Sol swung his arm to kill another Akuma. "These Akuma really start to get easy to kill after awhile." He said.

"Yea, but that doesn't mean we can let our guard down any." Suman told him as he used his wind attacks to destroy a bunch of Akuma ahead of them.

"True enough," Sol replied, clasping an Akuma in each of his hand crushing them.

"Let's just get this done." Suman said, destroying a few coming in from the side.

Kanda was massacring the Akuma he past as he ran, not even caring to glance at the piles of dust and clothes of those who fell victim to the Akuma. "Underworld Creatures, First Illusion." Kanda shouted, swinging his blade through the air and holographic looking beasts appeared, flying around and killing multiple Akuma.

Lenalee and Dylan killed another couple Akuma. "This is going to take forever, we need a way to destroy tons of Akuma at once." Dylan said.

"Isn't there some sort of weapon you can change your Innocence into to make that work?" Lenalee asked as she destroyed another Akuma.

"I could turn it into a machine gun I guess, but the bullets it fires are part of my Innocence still, I can't keep that up forever." Dylan replied, putting up his sword to block one of the Akuma's bullets, then extended the blade of his sword so it reached the Akuma and killed it."

"You can make your sword longer?" Lenalee didn't know that yet.

"Yea, I compress my Innocence, so it has stored metal I can use for the blade." Dylan replied, then saw where she was going.

Dylan increased the length and size of his swords blade, then jumped up, where Lenalee put her feet up to his and pushed off, rocketing him forward with the strength of her Dark Boots. Dylan held his blade out so all the Akuma he past were cut strait in two and destroyed, that one move probably killed 50 Akuma, then once he got back on the ground, Dylan shortened his sword back to the size of a regular blade again.

It only took a few moments for Lenalee to catch up with Dylan again, and then they continued on their way killing more and more Akuma.

Tina and Gwen were still killing the Akuma very fast, but Tina was really starting to wear out her Innocence with the "tuning fork" ability, as shown by the length of the Akuma's stunned moment becoming shorter and shorter.

"The numbers are starting to lower a little, you can stop using that for a while." Gwen told her, wanting to give Tina a chance to catch her breathe.

"Yea, thanks Gwen." Tina replied, and started to run alongside Gwen, just killing a few Akuma here and there to help out so her Innocence would overexert itself, while Gwen was killing the other Akuma with only a slightly slower speed than when Tina was using her Innocence to stop them.

Sol and Suman had a similar idea to Lenalee and Dylan to kill a large number of Akuma at once. Sol used his strength to fire Suman far in a short amount of time, during which time, Suman span while using his wind attacks to create a sort of mini twister that destroyed all the close Akuma, then Sol took care of any the attack might have missed on his way back up to him.

"Their starting to drop in number, a good sign we're nearing the end of this chaos." Suman stated.

"Indeed, let's just hope we can save a good amount of lives from dying from the Akuma by doing so." Sol said as he reached Suman, and the two continued to kill the Akuma.

Although he was alone, Kanda was doing just as good as any of the other teams in defeating Akuma. Kanda was only Dylan's age, but he had been with the order longer than anyone else fighting here right now, and his skills proved that fact. He was killing the Akuma with incredible ease and amazing speed, the abilities of his Mugen also helped a lot, allowing him to target large numbers of Akuma at once.

"We're doing great, we just need to keep this up a little longer." Dylan said, killing another Akuma, seeing that their numbers had been drastically decreased.

"Yea, so let's bring this to a close." Lenalee agreed, killing a couple more Akuma.

Dylan nodded then morphing his Innocence into the form of a machine gun. As Dylan had said before, putting his Innocence in this form would be able to kill many Akuma quickly, but it wasn't something he could use forever on end, at least not with the level he was at now. So he and Lenalee decided to wait until the numbers of Akuma had dropped a lot before using this form.

Dylan began firing off rapid bullets, using as little of the Innocence as possible for each bullet, killing any Akuma in range. He and Lenalee rushed forward so they could find any more Akuma lurking in the city. Any time they saw a larger size group of Akuma, Dylan shot them all down, if there were just a couple, Lenalee killed them. Just when they thought they were pretty much completely done with all the Akuma and stopped to catch their breathe, They heard someone snicker. And it didn't sound human.

"Hee, hee, hee, hee. Exorcists, thinking their all big just beating up a bunch of level 1's." The voice was deep and almost sounded like a growl. "But a lowly level 1 is nothing..." Just then something sped around a corner so fast neither of them got a good look at it at first, then it went right by them and hit them back, halting to a stop after that. "...Compared to the power of a level 2 like me."

After Dylan and Lenalee got back up on their feet, they saw that this new monster that introduced himself as a level 2 had a pair of wheels were it's legs should have been, it's fingers were as sharp as blades, and it had a visor over it's eyes, and had fangs like a wolves.

"Level 2? You mean... the Akuma evolved?" Dylan wondered, still in pain from the hit he took from it as he stood back up. Lenalee also got up again, and they were now in for a fight unlike any they had done so far.

So this was what happened, when an Akuma evolved.


	8. Why he Joined the Order

_8th Dusk: Why He Joined the Order_

Dylan and Lenalee faced the Level 2 Akuma, this incredibly strong monster, an Akuma that has evolved. Dylan took aim and fired his Innocence, but the Akuma sped to the side and over one of the buildings faster than the bullets could travel.

"Where'd it go?" Dylan wondered, having missed its moving almost entirely.

Then they saw something move in on the side, and the Akuma appeared again and swung its blade-sharp fingers on Lenalee. Lenalee tried to dodge, but only moved enough to dodge a critical hit, her shoulder got cut and she hit the ground. Dylan's rage grew and he fired again at the Akuma, but it moved out of the way again to a position a few yards away.

"Too slow," The Akuma told him.

"Dang it," Dylan said, then morphed his Innocence again, it turned into a hammer again, and Dylan swung it, but not at the Akuma, instead, he hit the surrounding buildings and knocked them down to create a cover while he took Lenalee and ran.

He got his way into another house and hid in it, propping Lenalee up against a wall. "Are you OK Lenalee?" Dylan asked.

"Yea, for now anyways. We need to get out of here though." Lenalee said, recalling her brother's order to come back if it got too hard.

"I wish that was a possibility." Dylan replied. "But it's just too fast, that little get away just now was a one time deal, if it finds us again, we won't be able to escape."

"But how can we fight that thing?" Lenalee asked.

"We can't fight it, we're going to have to trick it."

"Trick it,"

"Yea, wait for it to come by here while it's looking for us, then get it cornered and kill it with a single blow."

"OK, but how do we do that?"

"I have an idea..."

After Dylan explained his plan they just had to wait. This plan would involve precision and timing, but most of all, it would take speed.

"Where are you Exorcists?" The Akuma asked in a menacing tone as it swung a corner slowly. It was looking left and right, trying to find Dylan and Lenalee who had eluded him. Then at one moment it rolled past a street without realizing the floor underneath it had changed. Everywhere else, the streets had been made of rock, but this small bit of the street was metal, and before the Akuma had time to even think, the floor snapped upward into a tight box around the Akuma, tightening until it squeezed his body figure, leaving only its head uncovered. "What... What is this?" The Akuma was surprised.

"Caught you, 'Level 2.'" Dylan said from the side. "I figured you wouldn't have been using your speed to look for us, but even if you were, I still had a shot at catching you. I noticed you can't attack with your arms very well while moving fast, otherwise you would have done us in with your first attack, rather than just hitting us with the broad of your arm. So if you were going fast, I would have just jumped in front of you to make you stop, then incase you just like you are now. Lenalee takes it from here." Dylan said pointing to the top of one of the buildings where Lenalee stood, then jumped, about to slam her Dark Boots on the Akuma's head and kill it.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH..." The Akuma yelled as Lenalee came in to strike it. "Just kidding," The Akuma suddenly said and ripped itself out of Dylan's Innocence and grabbed Lenalee's leg. The Akuma swung Lenalee around like a rag doll, smashing her into a couple walls and the ground, then lifting her up and grabbing her arm, dangling her in front of him. "Your faster, so I'll take your Innocence and kill you first, then I'll take care of the boy." It said, reaching for Lenalee's Dark Boots.

As Dylan watched, he was thrown back to when that first Akuma killed his little sister. Because Lenalee looked just like her, it reminded him of how helpless he was at the time. But it also told him he wasn't helpless now.

"Put her down!" Dylan shouted, and the Akuma turned to him, as he was now holding a gun made of his Innocence, without even waiting for a response he fired the gun at the Akuma's arm, and although it dodged, it did force him to drop Lenalee.

Dylan's eyes were full of hatred. He couldn't help but now despise this Akuma who almost killed Lenalee. He had almost failed to protect someone else, and he didn't want to feel that pain again.

"I told you before, your too slow." The Akuma taunted.

"Am I?" Dylan asked, which confused the Akuma, but then something pierced through the Akuma's shoulder, not killing it, but wounding it. The object stopped in front of Dylan, and showed that it was the just fired bullet, having made full circle. "My syncro-rate with my Innocence has increased to a point I can control its motion, even if it's in mid-air, making killing Akuma easier.

"Now die Akuma." Dylan stated and fired three more bullets, the Akuma dodged them, then looked around to see when they were coming back, and when they did he dodged them again. The bullets kept coming back at him though, so all he could do now was dodge.

Dylan fired off more bullets, which just made dodging for the Akuma that much harder. After a while, the Akuma turned and charged strait for Dylan, trying to stop the source of his trouble so he could go and kill the others. Dylan was about to fire off another bullet as it was approaching, but when he pulled the trigger, nothing happened. He also saw that his flying bullets had started to slow down. He overused his Innocence.

"Ha, out of juice now are you?" The Akuma mocked as it came up on top of him, about to kill him. However, just then, something pierced the Akuma's chest, but it wasn't one of Dylan's bullets, it was Kanda's blade. Kanda then swung his blade up and through the Akuma's head, killing it. Dylan didn't believe it, and Akuma that just gave him and Lenalee so much trouble, Kanda killed in an instant.

Seeing the shocked look on Dylan's face, Kanda told him, "Don't make such a dumb face, the only reason I killed it that easily was because it was to focused on you, dimwit." Dylan's Innocence de-activated on its own due to the overuse itself. "Don't pointlessly overuse your Innocence like that again, or I won't save you the next time." Kanda told him.

"Right," Dylan replied, back to his old self, Kanda somehow knocking a bit of sense into him. Dylan went and picked up Lenalee, who was currently unconscious, but nowhere near death.

Just then, Suman, Sol, Tina, and Gwen all came around the corner. "Dylan, Lenalee, are you guys alright?" Suman asked, rushing up to him.

"We're both fine Suman, but Lenalee did get knocked unconscious." Dylan answered him, then remembered Suman asking him a question on the train.

_"What about you, why did you join the Order?"_ Was the question.

"Here," Suman said. "Let me carry her, your hurt more than me." Suman then took Lenalee and set her on his back.

"Hey Suman, about your question..." Dylan said, catching Suman slightly off guard. "... About why I joined the Order, I think I know now."

"Really, and why is it then?" Suman asked, wanting to hear the answer.

"To protect everyone, and make penitence for when my family died in front of me." Dylan answered. There were tears in his eyes as he said that. But Suman could tell they were tears of joy, not sadness. There was also determination in his face, and that was his will to protect others.


	9. Anger and Distraught

_9th Dusk: Anger and Distraught_

Dylan found himself once more in the white space, the Earl on one side, Cloud on the other. but there was a difference this time, he found himself staring at writing.

_The Innocence will grow into a most dangerous power indeed, properly nurtured, it will become a great aspect in the battle. But be it nurtured poorly, with anger, distrust, or distraught, it could prove to become a grave enemy. _It read, and Dylan recognized it as the prophecy of his Innocence given to him by Hevlaska.

The words vanished, and the dream continued as it normally would. He gripped his head in imaginary pain, Cloud vanished, and he drifted to the Earl.

_"Why is this happening?" _Dylan asked without the words actually leaving his mouth. Then Dylan saw something behind the Earl, and he was shocked to be looking at the Level 2 Akuma he fought last week, and a word drifted above it's head. **ANGER**. Then the dream ended. Then, on the other side of the Earl, he saw Lenalee, or at least that's what he thought for a moment. It was actually his little sister, whom Lenalee resembled, and a word also lingered above her. **DISTRAUGHT**

Dylan hadn't told anyone he was having these dreams, he didn't want anyone to know about it. But because of last night, and how Hevlaska's prophecy appeared in the dream, he wanted more information on it. That night, by himself, he took the elevator down to Hevlaska.

"Young child, why are you here?" Hevlaska asked when she appeared.

"I was hoping maybe you could give me more insight to what the prophecy of my Innocence means." Dylan answered.

"I see, so that is your reason for coming here, but unfortunately, I have no information for you." Hevlaska told him. "I merely read and recite the prophecy, I do not write it nor can I interpret its exact meaning."

"Isn't there something you can tell me?" Dylan asked.

"I wish I could help you child, but there is nothing I can do. Now go and rest, it is late." Hevlaska told Dylan before fading away. Dylan went back to his room but couldn't sleep, thinking about his dreams.

The fallowing morning while he ate breakfast with the others, Lenalee asked him, "Is something wrong Dylan? You seem depressed."

"Huh," Dylan was deep in thought. "Oh no, I just didn't get any sleep last night." He replied, faking a smile.

"Better hope you don't doze off in your mission today." Tina told him, as he was scheduled a mission briefing with Komui after he finished his meal.

"I'll be fine. besides, it's with Kanda." Dylan replied.

"That's supposed to be a good thing?" Suman asked sarcastically. "If I recall correctly, he made it crystal clear he wouldn't save your butt again."

"Oh yea," Dylan remembered. "Just shows how tired I really am." The others laughed at that remark.

"...And that about covers the base of your mission." Komui finished briefing Dylan and Kanda. They had gotten word of where another fragment of Innocence could be, They were to find and secure it.

Their destination was an out of the way and abandoned town that people normally just pass through on their way somewhere else. Lately, there have been rumors from a few of the people who pass through of a mist that comes out of nowhere and while in the mist, will have many odd things happen to them.

One man had said he hit a wall with his face, but when he reached forward again, nothing was there. Another person said he felt his feet leave the ground for almost 10 seconds before feeling the ground beneath him again. One had even said that faces of people he had never seen before appeared around him, laughing at him or trying to direct him out of the mist.

The train ride there was utterly silent, what with Kanda's lack of socializing. How Dylan did try to get a couple conversations started or at least learn a little more about him, he was quickly shut down with either a scowl or a rude remark, so he just gave up.

"Keep you eyes peeled for this supposed mist." Kanda stated after the two of them reached their destination.

"Right," Dylan replied, and the two of them walked through the place.

The two had been walking around for about 10 minutes now, but they hadn't seen anything yet. Then, just like the stories they heard had said, they found themselves in a mist almost in an instant. In seconds, they couldn't see 5 inches in front of themselves.

"Well, look like the stories are true. Let's try not to get separated Kanda." Dylan said turning, but only seeing mist, rather than Kanda. "Kanda, where did you go?"

"Hey, where'd you run off too?" Kanda called, also in the mist, losing Dylan as well. "Oh well, if he dies it's not my fault." He said then began to walk forward.

"Maybe I'll find him if I go back," Dylan thought, but when he turned around all he saw was mist, which he should have guessed anyways. "Oh well, I'll continue on my own." He decided with a sigh.

Dylan had been walking for a few minutes, but other than losing Kanda, nothing unusual had happened in this mist. Also, if Innocence really was involved, how were they supposed to find it in all this. He figured the Innocence must be nearby if it really was connected, and would need some sort of trigger plate for the mist to appear in the first place. That trigger plate would be the key to finding the Innocence.

Kanda, somewhere else in the mist, had experienced a few paranormal events since he entered the mist, one of which involved him tripping completely over to where he should have hit the ground with his head, but instead he felt as if he was now standing on a wall, and walking downward for a couple minutes. Although there was no physical position or force to suggest he was really sideways.

"Wherever the mist started is probably where what will lead me to the Innocence is." Kanda said to himself, thinking along the same lines as Dylan was about a trigger plate. " But before I can go find it, I'll need the mist to clear up."

Dylan had just began to find himself in a paranormal event. Every few seconds, he would feel something tap him, but when he turned, all he saw was more mist. Once he got out of the mist, he would try to find a way to get back to Kanda. And just as he thought that, the mist cleared up. He looked around to try and get a good estimate of how far he had traveled, but since he had no idea what anything looked like here, that didn't work very well, although he could see the other end of the town, so working his way back around shouldn't prove to hard.

"Kanda!" Dylan shouted, hoping he would be able to hear him.

"Hey," Dylan heard Kanda's voice, and surprisingly it sounded rather close. He looked to where the voice came from and saw Kanda only about 60 yards away. "Where did you run off to you idiot?"

"I could ask the same question, anyways I think I know how we can find the Innocence." Dylan said, then rushed over to Kanda.

Dylan told Kanda about his trigger plate theory, and Kanda said he had the same idea. The two of them rounded around back to where they entered the town, then retraced their steps from there.

"OK, it was right around here the mist started." Dylan said. "I'll walk forward and let you know if the mist comes up again." He walked forward and after a few steps he stopped and turned around. "OK Kanda, I'm in the mist again." Dylan said, hoping Kanda would be able to hear him. "Pretty much right in front of me should be where the trigger plate is, just cut into the ground with your sword." He instructed Kanda, who stuck his blade into the ground and when he pulled up a chunk of the ground, right underneath it was the Innocence.

Kanda wondered what to do at this point, Dylan would be in the illusion of the Innocence for about 10 minutes. Maybe if he came in contact with the Innocence again, the illusion would vanish, and sure enough, when he tried it, Dylan snapped out of it.

"Oh, looks like we got the Innocence." Dylan said.

"We're heading back now." Kanda told him.

"Right," Dylan replied.

"Oh, so you found the Innocence." Kanda and Dylan heard a voice say.

"It would have taken us hours to find that on our own." A second voice said.

"Well, since you were so kind as to find it for us..." The first voice said then two figures jumped out on either side of the two of them, showing to be level 2 Akuma. "...We'll let you live as long as you just hand it over now."

The first Akuma looked similar to a werewolf in form, with fangs the length of daggers, then it also had some armor across its arms and chest. The second Akuma looked like a giant rat-man, and had fur that spiked like javelins.

"You want this Innocence, go ahead and try." Kanda taunted, tossing the Innocence into the air. "Mugen, activate," He said, activating his Innocence.

"Innocence, activate," Dylan said, morphing his Innocence into a blade.

Dylan swayed a bit on his feet, he was still tired from lack of sleep last night, and in that moment of realizing how sleepy he was, He thought about his latest dream... **ANGER**,** DISTRAUGHT**.


	10. Distrust, Rogue Exorcist

_10th Dusk: Distrust, Rogue Exorcist_

"You want this Innocence, go ahead and try." Kanda taunted, tossing the Innocence into the air. "Mugen, activate," He said, activating his Innocence.

"Innocence, activate," Dylan said, morphing his Innocence into a blade.

Dylan swayed a bit on his feet, he was still tired from lack of sleep last night, and in that moment of realizing how sleepy he was, He thought about his latest dream... **ANGER**,** DISTRAUGHT**.

Dylan jumped at the rat-like Akuma and slashed, but it jumped back to dodge, then took a couple of it's javelin-like hairs off its back and used them like swords. Kanda charged the werewolf Akuma, but it blocked with it's claws, then threw a punch, and Kanda dodged; The Innocence hit the ground.

"Silly Exorcists, do you really think you can take us at level 2?" The rat Akuma asked.

"It's not necessarily that we think we can take you... It's that we _need_ to defeat you; For the sake of all humans." Dylan responded, then slashed down on the Akuma, but it blocked with it's hair-blades then struck back, and Dylan dodged.

"Hee, what poor reasoning. Even now, there are millions of Akuma all over the world, just killing humans and no ones even paying attention to it. What kind of impact will it have in the overall outcome?" The Akuma asked, and it hit Dylan like a ton of bricks.

The Akuma was right, Dylan hated to admit it, but in the amount of time it would take to destroy these 2 Akuma, 10 others would have already been created in their place. Now that it had been brought up, just how was the Order supposed to defeat the Akuma in the world? Their numbers were so few, while the Akuma's were so large.

"You understand? Nothing you exorcist do will ever make a difference in the end!" The Akuma yelled and swung down on Dylan, and although still in shock, he blocked, then he looked up at the Akuma with what resembled, but wasn't quite anger, then countered, but the Akuma dodged, although its hair-blade was cut in two.

Dylan morphed his Innocence into a gun quickly and shot 3 bullets into the Akuma's chest, destroying it. Dylan then turned toward Kanda and the second Akuma, pointing the gun, but couldn't get a clear shot right away. But when he held the gun then, poised to destroy the other Akuma, he remembered how he had overused it before, and felt like if he pulled the trigger now, it wouldn't fire.

Kanda saw that Dylan had killed the other Akuma, then slashed at the werewolf Akuma, and it blocked, but Kanda didn't give it room for a counter-attack.

"Shot it!" Kanda yelled, holding the Akuma at bay so it couldn't move. "Go on, pull the trigger!" He yelled again, as Dylan hadn't even moved.

Dylan was unsure of himself, he didn't think he would be able to do it; He dropped his arm.

"Tch," Kanda scowled, and pushed the Akuma back. "Underworld Creatures, First Illusion." He said and used the skill to destroy the Akuma. Then he deactivated his Innocence and walked over to Dylan. "What's wrong with you?!" He shouted at him, grabbing him by his coat collar. "I gave you a perfect shot and you didn't move a muscle." Dylan gave no reply, but shook Kanda's hand off and picked up the collected Innocence.

"Forget it, we're done here, let's leave." He said, sounding kind of depressed. Kanda scowled in anger, but didn't really care if he got an answer.

They returned to the Order and gave the Innocence to Hevlaska. Komui said they should hurry to catch dinner, but Dylan just went strait to his room, thinking about what the Akuma had said.

He had stayed up for hours just thinking about all the bad experiences he'd had since joining the Order. There was just this night with the Akuma telling him things that were without a doubt true. There was the time his Innocence got overused, and Kanda saved him. And there was his first mission, in which a family was put in danger because he wanted to discreet when obtaining the Innocence.

Also there was seeing Lenalee, which could actually be classified as both a good and bad experience. Seeing Lenalee, who resembled his sister so much, had given him something to hold on to here at the Order, where he didn't really know anyone. On the other hand, it also reminded him of his greatest regret, that he couldn't save his younger sister when it mattered.

After a long while, he finally feel asleep due to pure exhaustion, and he had his dream again.

The dream, however, was different this time. He was still in the white room, but he didn't see the Earl or Cloud. He did however see Hevlaska's prophecy in the air.

_The Innocence will grow into a most dangerous power indeed, properly nurtured, it will become a great aspect in the battle. But be it nurtured poorly, with anger, distrust, or distraught, it could prove to become a grave enemy. _The prophecy, unlike last time, did not disappear. Instead, 2 figures began to appear below the prophecy's text. The first to appear was the first Level 2 Akuma he fought, with the word, **ANGER**, floating above it. Then Lenalee appeared, with the word, **DISTRAUGHT**.

But now a third figure was beginning to appear. It came up in full view, and the word, **DISTRUST**, hung in the air above it. And the person who had this word written above him... was Dylan, himself; he woke up with a start, breathing heavily and sweating.

It was morning, and everyone was getting up for breakfast. After a few hours, all of Dylan's friends had yet to see him anywhere. Lenalee went up to his room, Komui had a mission for the two of them.

"Dylan," She said, opening the door. "Komui has a mission for us, are you up?" Then she turned to Dylan's bed and saw a note on it; oddly enough, it was addressed to her.

It read: _Lenalee, I need time to sort out some personal things, don't look for me. I hope you can understand._

_-Dylan_

Lenalee ran up to Komui to show him the letter. After reading, Komui said, "It appears Dylan has left the Order, for what reason I cannot say. But he's probably long gone by now, we are not going to look for him."

Lenalee was depressed, and there was something she hadn't told her brother. In Dylan's room, above his bed and scratched into the wall. Rogue Exorcist was written.


	11. Innocence in the Middle

_11th Dusk: Innocence in the Middle_

Dylan sighed, taking one last look at Central HQ before leaving, setting off on his own. Other than his Innocence, he had left behind anything that could tie him to the Order. He doubted he would ever be coming back, Thus he wrote Rogue Exorcist on his wall. He thought about Hevlaska's prophecy; _But be it nurtured poorly, with anger, distrust, or distraught, it could prove to become a grave enemy; _And his dream was telling him that's exactly what was happening, he couldn't have stayed.

He didn't have a plan on what to do after leaving, he just knew he needed to get away, far away. He didn't stop traveling for anything for 12 hours, after which he finally stopped by a restaurant. He had a considerable amount of money, which should get him through a few weeks, after which he would probably work for his food.

He had said in the note he left that he needed to sort some personal things, but he actually hadn't the slightest idea how he was going to be able to do that. Anger, distrust, and distraught were the aspects that would turn him against the Order, but he had only found these aspects brought up in his mind after joining the Order itself, the best way to protect them from his power was to leave and never go back.

"Thanks," He told his waiter when his meal was brought, and began to eat. It was a small restaurant, nothing fancy; he never did get used to the feel of fancy places.

After eating his meal and paying for it, he went and rented out a hotel room, then took some time to roam around the town. There wasn't much around, it was a small town where nothing happened, and no one seemed to particularly like or dislike living here. He had only been here a few hours, and he already began to feel the same way. A few more hours past, and he decided to go to his hotel and turn in early. When he fell asleep, he had his dream again.

It was back to its original version, probably a side effect of leaving the Order. There he stood in the white space, the Earl on one side, Cloud on the other, both speaking unheard words, He gripped his head in none-existent pain, and Cloud disappeared. He drifted to the Earl, at which point he asked, _"Why?"_ But surprisingly, this time he heard the word echo through the place of his dream.

The Earl appeared to answer him, but the words still did not reach Dylan's ears; He woke up. However, he did not wake up to the sound of his alarm or the rays of sunlight in his window, but rather to the sounds of shrieks and explosions.

He looked out his window to see 3 level 1 Akuma getting ready to kill a family, and saw that it had already done one in. "Innocence, activate," Dylan said, grabbing his Innocence and morphing it into a blade and jumping out his window, cutting one of the Akuma in two, then leaping at the second, destroying it as well.

The third Akuma had just gotten ready to fire upon the family, and he ran to get in front of them. He morphed his Innocence into a shield and leaped in the way of the Akuma just as it fired, only just barely saving the family, which stared in perplexed fear. Dylan turned to the Akuma with anger on his face, as he seemed to get every time an Akuma came close to killing a human while he was there, and shifted his Innocence into a gun, and shot the Akuma to destroy it.

"John!" The women yelled in horror of who was probably her husband's death, now nothing but ash. Dylan looked away from the sight, unable to bare the pain it brought.

Dylan heard two children cry at the sight of their father's murder, and it almost made Dylan want to barf in sadness. But then he realized he needed to tell them something, and turned to them.

"Listen," He began, and the family's attention shifted to him, although they were still horror struck. "You will most likely meet a fat man with grey skin and wearing a top hat, and he will tell you he can bring him back to life. But whatever you do, don't agree to it, unless you want him to end up turning into one of those beasts you just saw kill him." He said without the slightest tone of sympathy, wanting to make sure he was absolutely understood by them.

The family nodded slowly and seemed unsure of his warning, but he figured they got the message. He walked away, not returning to his room, but rather around the town. If there were those three Akuma, that probably meant there would be more around as well; his Innocence would lure them out if they saw it.

Two hours past and the sun began to rise, but Dylan hadn't seen even one other Akuma, and so he de-activated his Innocence. He went back to his hotel to get the sleep he skipped out on. He thought of the Order, they probably didn't even know there were Akuma here at all. Come to think of it, he wondered just how much the Order knew about Akuma locations at all, and why there aren't Exorcists permanently positioned around the world. Thinking about it like that, it seemed like if they did do that, they could destroy Akuma faster than normal.

Dylan shook the Order out of his mind, he shouldn't be worrying about them anymore, what they do is their business, not his. He was on his own now, he needed to get that through his head and keep it there; he fell asleep and had his dream.

Dylan looked around the white space, but this time there was nothing and no one else here but himself. _"What," _Dylan wondered, and he heard his word echo in the space. He knew this was his dream, but it seemed as though he could do what he wanted to with it this time; he tried walking forward. Dylan thought he saw something in the distance, and ran toward it, when he got there, what he found was his Innocence, already activated into a sword form.

He reached for it, but then he heard someone speak to his right, _"Dylan, don't do it."_ He turned and saw Cloud, this time able to hear her words.

_"It's my Innocence, what do you mean?" _Dylan asked her.

_"No, don't give in to it."_ Cloud said, but her answer made it seem like she didn't actually hear his question.

_"Don't give in to it... You mean my Innocence, What's wrong with it?" _Dylan asked.

_"There is nothing wrong with your sword boy," _Dylan turned to see the Earl._ "Go on and take it, if you know which one is really it." _The Earl told him.

_"What," _Dylan wondered, turning back to his Innocence but now seeing a second, identical blade.

_"Don't give in, don't fall for it Dylan."_ Cloud told him.

_"Go on and take what is yours." _The Earl said.

_ "Don't do it,"_

_ "Go on,"_

The two of them continued to yell these orders at him, and Dylan grabbed his head in pain.

_"Don't/"_ Clouds voice vanished, and Dylan saw that she did as well; he knew what came next.

Dylan drifted to the Earl and asked, _"Why," _And this time he expected to hear the answer.

However, all the Earl did was laugh, not answer, but then his voice died out, although Dylan knew he was still laughing. Then, in an instant, Dylan's Innocence came up from behind, running him though.

"AH!" Dylan screamed, waking up from the dream. It felt so real, he actually thought he could feel the pain present in his chest, then he reached out to grab his Innocence, and when he did, he realized it was activated into a sword form, just like in his dream. What did this mean? He was certain he deactivated it last night, meaning it must have somehow activated on its own, in response to his dream. Now he really felt like he needed to sort this dream thing out, it had become a greater problem then he had thought.


	12. An Exorcist

_12th Dusk: An Exorcist_

Dylan had a huge problem on his plate, his dream last night had scared him senseless. His dream was somehow connected to the meaning of Hevlaska's Prophecy. 'The Innocence will grow into a most dangerous power indeed, properly nurtured, it will become a great aspect in the battle. But be it nurtured poorly, with anger, distrust, or distraught, it could prove to become a grave enemy.' What he knew at this point was that he most definitely nurtured his Innocence poorly; but what of becoming a grave enemy?

He supposed that it meant if he ever got this far like this, he would have, for one reason or another, turned completely against the Order. But he hasn't turned against the Order, almost the opposite in fact. He ran away from the Order, to be sure, but he did it in an effort to protect them, not with intent to harm. Then there was his dream.

It seemed as though the Earl and Cloud were just figureheads in his dream, representing his internal struggle against and for the Order. And his Innocence appeared to be the crossroad that would make the decision in the end. _If you know which one is really yours. _He thought of those words from his dream, and thought of how two identical blades were in front of him, when he finally chose one, he figured everything would find its place one way or another.

The biggest problem was that his dream had physically activated and morphed his Innocence in reality, which meant there was a direct link between his Innocence and this dream. He half wished he could ask his Innocence what was going on, the other half was afraid of what it would tell him if he could ask it. His head hurt from all of this, he wished he had someone to talk to about this, but he was all alone, and that would be how he would have to deal with it.

"Would you like the check sir?" Dylan snapped back to reality for a moment when his waitress asked him.

"Oh, yea, thanks." He replied, paying the bill for his meal then leaving. He took one step out of the restaurant and sighed, he had absolutely no clue what he was doing out here. He figured the easiest thing for him to do was just travel around and destroy Akuma when he saw them, but whether or not that was the best choice he wasn't sure, if he traveled around in search of Akuma, he might accidentally run into the Order, and who knows what they would do if they found him.

After thinking about it for a long while, he figured it didn't matter what he did from here on out, he would never have a good life, never a happy life, and most certainly never a normal one; that ended with his the death of his family. He made up his mind...

_1 year later_

Dylan swung down his Innocence on an Akuma, an emotionless expression on his face as he put the sword on his side instead of de-activating it. He now wore a light brown cloak over him, like one you see on people who wander about the desert a lot.

"Oh, thank you!" A young woman exclaimed, walking up to him.

"Don't mention it." Dylan replied blandly, no feeling in his voice.

"Please, if there's anything we can do for you-" She started.

"Food, I'll be leaving soon." Dylan said. That was all he ever asked for, along with a hot bath or place to sleep every now and then. He never asked for money or anything else, all he wanted was enough to get by on. He had lived like this the past year, moving endlessly from town to town, luring out Akuma with his Innocence, which he never de-activated anymore, then killing them, getting food, then moving on as quickly as he could.

He never stayed in one place for long, continually moving was the best way to keep from being noticed by Akuma and the Order alike. From now on he would live in solitude, striking down Akuma as he found them to protect humans, and he would try his hardest to figure out the puzzle of his dreams, which gradually got worse and worse. He hoped if he figured out that riddle, that he could finally go back to the Order with peace of mind. But the ladder frightened him, of if he figured it out, and went completely against the Order. However, he wasn't sure how or why he would turn against them at all feeling this scared about it happening, he would understand if it did though, thinking about the "why's" wasn't going to get him anywhere.

After eating the food the people of the town gave him, and taking a bit extra for the road, he was ready to leave. "Thank you for the food." He said, bowing respectfully and turning for the door.

"But wait, must you leave so soon, what if more of those monsters are lurking around?" The girl asked.

"Don't worry, if there were anymore around, they would have shown up already. But a piece of advice, if a fat man in a suit appears to you, don't listen to what he has to say, and make sure to pass that along to the other towns people." Dylan said, and left.

He was only a little ways out of the village when he heard someone cry out from behind him. "Wait," When Dylan turned, he saw an old man walking toward him. Being too precautious, he grabbed the handle of his Innocence, ready to cut him in half if he turned out to be an Akuma.

"What is it?" Dylan asked impatiently.

"You forgot something back in town." The man said. He had a beard that covered his expression, but the man's eyes made Dylan grip harder on his handle.

"And what is it I forgot?" Dylan asked accusingly.

"Your death!" The man shouted, morphing into an Akuma.

Dylan swung his Innocence backhanded, aiming for the mid section of the man, but the Akuma had been a level 2, and as such too smart to fall for that, jumping out of the way when he revealed his true form. The Akuma had four lances as limbs that came out of a small center part that made it resemble a spider, and it didn't have a visible face.

"I'm going to tear you apart." The Akuma yelled, its voice now low and sounding as if angry.

Dylan made no reply and waited. When the Akuma jumped and swung down one of it's lance limbs at him, Dylan swung his blade and blocked it. But then his blade shifted into a long chain and wrapped around the leg, holding the Akuma still. Then a shot fired, Dylan had changed the end of his hilt into a gun barrel and fired it though the center of the Akuma, and that destroyed it, then morphed his Innocence back to the form of a regular blade and putting it on his side, then continued his journey.

With a years worth experience of fighting Akuma under his belt now, Dylan was able to easily defeat even level 2 Akuma, though some were harder than others. Dylan wasn't sure what his Innocence's synch-rate was, as Hevlaska was the only one who could check it. But seeing as he was now able to transform parts of the weapon into different things, he guessed it was probably somewhere between 40% and 55%.

When night came round, Dylan was in a forest, he didn't have anything to make a shelter out of, so after he ate some food he got from the last town, he just slept on the ground. Dylan couldn't help his Innocence de-activating when he fell asleep, but activating it again was always the first thing he did when he woke up. And when Dylan did fall asleep, he had his dream again.

Like always now, he started off with nothing around him, but after he walked forward, he saw his Innocence in the distance, and ran.

Once he reached for the blade, Cloud's voice broke the silence. _"Dylan, Don't do it!" _Dylan didn't say anything, just waited for the dream to progress._ "No, don't give in to it."_

_ "There is nothing wrong with your sword boy," _The Earl appear._ "Go on and take it, if you know which one is really it." _The Earl told him, and the second sword appeared.

The two of them began to try and tell him what to do, trying to make themselves louder than the other, more convincing. Although Dylan moved as he wished now for the most part, he didn't try to pick up one of the blades. Once Cloud vanished, Dylan drifted toward the Earl, and after a moment of the Earl laughing, Dylan's sword plunged through his heart, and he woke up, no longer reacting to the pain he felt in his chest, to find his Innocence in the form of a sword, though it should have de-activated when he fell asleep, and as it was when he woke up after a night he didn't have the dream.

It was dawn, the sun only just starting to appear over the horizon. Dylan ate the remains of his food, then starting walking again, not bothering to try and get anymore sleep. After a few hours, Dylan found another town, which was good since he ran out of food.

Once he entered the town, he moved his cloak so his Innocence was visible. Like always, the blade had a slight glow to it, which was the first thing that told Akuma it was Innocence and lured them out. Dylan wandered around the town for a while, but no Akuma were showing up. A few people backed away from Dylan when they saw his blade, which was to be expected if they were human. After going around a lot, he hid his Innocence behind his cloak, pretty sure there weren't any Akuma around.

However, soon after reassuring himself, he heard someone from behind. "Master, that man is an Akuma." The words made him stop dead.

He turned slowly to who had said it, and saw a young child with white hair, but Dylan realized the boy was the least of his worries. The person he had referred to as master was wearing an Order coat, more specifically, he was a General. Dylan fallowed the boys gaze and saw the man he was looking at, but why did he think he was an Akuma?

The man he specified turned toward them, and stopped at the sight of the Order cloak. "Exorcist," He whispered, barely audible, then he tore out of his skin to reveal himself as a level 1 Akuma. The people around him screamed in terror, and Dylan gripped his Innocence, about to attack it, but then remembered the General, he could take care of it, he wasn't going to blow his cover.

"Innocence, activate!" To Dylan's surprise, it was the boy who shouted these words, and with them his arm transformed into a huge metallic claw, and ripped into the Akuma, destroying it.

Dylan stood still for a moment, then looked over at the General, at his discomfort, the General was looking back at him, and he had seen Dylan's blade. Dylan straitened up and covered his sword, then began to quickly walk away. As he did, he could feel that the General knew that his sword was Innocence, he needed to get out of here fast.


	13. The General that Hates HQ

_13th Dusk: The General That Hates HQ_

Dylan walked quickly through the town, trying to look as regular as possible in case the General, by some miracle, hadn't realized Dylan held Innocence. His hopes were dashed when the General grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

"Hey, may I speak to you for a moment?" He asked.

"Sorry, I have to get going." Dylan said after a short pause, hoping he could get out of here without confrontation.

"Oh don't worry, I won't take up too much of your time, I just want to ask a few questions." The General said.

"Master, is this someone you know?" The boy with white hair asked as he came over. Dylan didn't get a good look at him earlier, but now he noticed the boy had a strange scar on his left eye.

"No, Allen, but I would like to, one way or another." Dylan didn't like the way that sounded.

Dylan sighed and turned, he wasn't getting out of this. "Fine, but let's go someplace private."

"Good," The General said, grinning.

The General lead Dylan to a sort of storage area, where they could talk privately. They sat down on a couple crates, and Dylan stuck his Innocence in the ground, it's glow was more obvious in the dim light.

"I see you have Innocence boy. What's your name?" The General asked.

"Dylan," Dylan answered reluctantly. "Might as well ask yours."

"I am Marian Cross, as you probably guessed, I am a General of the Order."

"I'm not going back there," Dylan said, turning his head to the side, then giving a slightly depressed look. "I can't."

"Can't or won't?" Cross asked.

Dylan's face lost expression again. "Might as well be both, I won't tell you why."

"Fine, but I wasn't planning on taking you back, I hate that place too." Dylan was a little surprised to hear that from a General.

"If you hate the Order, why do you still wear the coat?" Dylan asked.

"I hate the people at Headquarters, not the Order itself." Cross answered.

"Fine, anything else?"

"I'm interested in your Innocence," Cross said.

"Basically, it's a shape-shifting weapon. I can morph it into any kind of weapon I want."

"What's your synch-rate, do you know?"

"Not a clue, I left the Order a year ago, I haven't been able to check it since then, but if I had to make a guess, between 40 and 55%. My turn, who's the kid?" Dylan asked, motioning at the boy Cross called Allen.

"His name is Allen Walker, I picked him up a little over a year ago, saved him from getting killed by an Akuma." Dylan noticed Allen wince at the mention.

"Interesting, I was saved from an Akuma by another General, Cloud Nine." Dylan commented.

"I see," Cross said.

"What I really want to know is how he was able to tell that one guy was an Akuma." Dylan said.

"I'm cursed. My left eye is able to see the souls of Akuma." Allen answered himself.

"So that's what that scar is." Dylan assumed.

"Exactly. Now then, Do you have a specific reason for leaving the Order?" Cross asked.

"Didn't I already tell you not to ask?"

"You told me not to ask why you won't _and_ can't go back." Cross remarked.

"It falls under the same lines." Dylan retorted. "Can I leave now?" Dylan was growing impatient.

"Akuma," Allen suddenly said. "There's an Akuma right outside." Dylan noticed that his left eye turned black with red rings.

"What, where exactly outside?" Cross asked.

"It's sitting on the wall right behind him." Allen said, pointing at the wall behind Dylan."

"I got it then." Dylan said, picking up his Innocence and stabbing the wall where Allen had pointed. They heard a few cries of shock and then an explosion, confirming the Akuma had been killed. "I'll repeat myself, can I go now?" Dylan asked again.

"Just a couple more things." Cross said, and saw the displeasure on Dylan's face. "Is the reason you won't go back to the Order because you have something against them?" Cross asked.

Dylan was hesitant to answer. "No, I owe my life to the Order, and I rather enjoyed being there." Dylan finally answered, and he noticed Cross smirk. "Something about that amusing?"

"No, it's just that, somehow I expected you to say something like that. " Dylan didn't reply to this, just raised an eyebrow. "Well, I guess that's about it, you can be on your way now." Cross told Dylan, who didn't hesitate in picking his Innocence up and leaving.

When he walked out, he noticed that some of the people were still staring in shock at where the Akuma exploded. Dylan walked up to one of the people and told him, "You should realize by the explosion that man was no human. He was a monster that would have killed you people slowly but surely if I hadn't killed it first."

"Oh really, thank you, if there's anything we can do for you/"

"Food, I need to leave soon." Dylan replied.

"Master," Allen started. "Why did you let him go so easily?"

"You heard his reply, I'm not going to mess with a guy like that. But I do think we would have gotten along pretty well if we stuck together awhile." Cross answer.

Dylan got out of the town as soon as he got some food. He didn't like the idea of being around General Cross too long, even if he wasn't planning on taking him back to the Order. Going around with him would only bring trouble later.

But still, Dylan admitted to himself, "I think we would have gotten along if I had gone with him."


	14. Battle with Noah

_14th Dusk: Battle with Noah_

Dylan left another town after killing a few Akuma and getting more food along with a bath. He was approaching some woods when a man came walking out of it. In instinct Dylan grabbed his blades hilt and made sure it was visible. When the man emerged from the woods he stopped at the sight of Dylan.

The first thing Dylan noticed was the man's grey skin. He thought nothing of it for only a second, then remembered that the Earl had the exact same shade of grey skin, which made him grip his sword tighter. The man was wearing a very fancy suit, he looked as if he were about to attend a ball or wedding. After a glance at Dylan's blade, he seemed both pleased and displeased.

"Hello there, might I ask your name?" He said.

Dylan was silent for a moment, but then answered, "Dylan,"

"Dylan, Dylan, Dylan," The man recited taking a card out of his pocket and scanning it. After a moment he sighed and said, "Well you're not on my list. You also don't wear a coat, and yet you carry Innocence."

Dylan took out his blade and pointed it at the man. "Your grey skin, are you in anyway related to the Earl?"

"You sound like a well informed Exorcist, to know of the Earl, and yes, that is correct." The man replied.

"I never heard that much, but I take it you are a Noah." Dylan assumed.

"Correct again, my name is Tyki Mikk. Now let me ask you, if you are indeed an Exorcist, why do you not wear the coat?" Tyki asked.

"I no longer work under the Order." Dylan replied.

"Oh, if that is so, you might not be targeted by any of us."

"Am I supposed to be relieved?"

"Actually, you might feel regret. If you still worked under the Order, there would be a good possibility you were someone else's target, and I would leave you alone until further notice. But if you are not, there is no reason for me not to kill you here and now."

"You sound quite confident; let's hear you talk like that after you get a look at my Innocence." Dylan told Tyki, and charged. Dylan began swinging his sword at Tyki multiple times, but Tyki dodged quite easily.

"Ah come now, is that all you've got?" Tyki mocked him.

"You wish," Dylan replied, and swung his blade again, and although Tyki thought he stepped back far enough to dodge, he got a minor cut on his side. "And I'm not done yet." Dylan said, holding his sword with the hilt facing Tyki, and a blade extended from it to stab Tyki.

Tyki was caught off guard, but managed to dodge without being hit. "Now I see, you managed to hit me that time by extending the length of your blade at the last second where I wouldn't realize it. Interesting trick, but don't think I will fall for it again."

"I wouldn't expect a Noah to fall for the same trick twice, that's why I've got plenty more." Dylan said, and then extended his blade forward at Tyki, but he stepped to the side and it missed.

"I'm sorry, was this supposed to be a new-" Tyki began, but was cut off but a secondary blade extending from the side of the first one, that stuck itself in his shoulder before he jumped to the side.

"You were saying?" Dylan mocked Tyki Mikk.

"Don't get cocky." Tyki warned, and ran toward Dylan at a stunning speed so that he was in front of Dylan in less than a second, then stabbed his hand forward.

Dylan was just barely able to duck out of the way, then he kicked up at the Noah, but was surprised to see his leg faze right through his body. Tyki took the opportunity to punch him, and the punch was much stronger than an average one, and sent Dylan flying.

Dylan got to his feet and regulated the size of his sword. "What was that?"

"I am the Noah of pleasure, and my ability is 'Choose', which allows me to decide what touches me and what doesn't." Tyki explained.

"And you can do this with anything?" Dylan asked accusingly.

"That's correct." Tyki replied.

"Really, if that's so then how have I wounded you twice already, if you could really decide what touches you and what doesn't with everything, then even my Innocence would have fazed through you. As a Noah, you are full of dark matter, just like Akuma, which in turn makes your one weakness Innocence."

"Very perceptive boy, let's see you make any real use out of that information." Tyki said, and then jumped at Dylan with incredible speed, attempting to kick him.

Dylan reacted in time to widen the size of his blade and block the kick, and then he threw Tyki back. Dylan ran at Tyki and slashed down on him, but Tyki jumped away.

"Just what I wanted you to do." Dylan said, and then turned toward Tyki who was still in the air, but was now holding a gun. "Can't dodge very well when you're in the air." Dylan said, and then pulled the trigger, but somehow Tyki was able to leap to the side and land on the ground, and then jumped behind Dylan.

"On the contrary, _I_ can dodge just fine in the air. My 'Choose' ability also allows me to walk on air and water as if they were solid." Tyki explained, and then spin kicked Dylan away, knocking him down. Tyki grabbed Dylan by the neck before he could get up and threw him up against a tree. "You do have a lot of tricks, but I'm not going to let you use another one." Tyki said, then moved his free hand over Dylan's chest, and pressed down. However, instead of actually pushing on his body, Tyki's fingers began to faze through Dylan's body.

Dylan struggled to speak. "Too late." He said the two words, taking Tyki by surprise, and jumping back with caution, but nothing seemed to happen.

"You bluffed!" Tyki guessed, but then saw something flying in only when it was too late to dodge. The bullet Dylan had fired earlier had just pierced Tyki's shoulder, then flew around to Dylan and fused back with his gun.

Dylan got to his feet, staggering. "No, I didn't."

"Now I see, you're Innocence can be made into any shape or form, including the forms of weapons, which you use to be able to catch them off guard a lot." Tyki finally figured out. "You can also control it even if it's in the air."

"Correct, Noah, but that knowledge won't do you much good right now." Dylan replied.

"Well it looks like I need to correct myself," Tyki said, confusing Dylan. "_Now_ I won't let you use another one of your tricks." Tyki said, then ran forward and kneed Dylan into the tree behind him, then punched him down to the ground.

Dylan was taking a beating, now that Tyki knew most of his Innocence's tricks, he was letting loose so he wouldn't be able to use any more of them. Tyki kicked Dylan upward into the air then jumped above him and elbowed him back down into the ground.

Tyki landed in front of Dylan, who was struggling to stand up. Tyki grabbed his neck again and told him, "You are quite skilled with your Innocence, I will grant you that, but now I have you just where I want you." Tyki said, preparing to pull out his heart again.

"Not so fast, Noah... I'm not down for the count just yet!" Dylan said, then a blade stretched from his Innocence, trying to stab Tyki, but he turned and it missed.

"Didn't I already say I wouldn't fall for that again?" Tyki asked, starting to get bored.

"Who said that was all?" Dylan asked, and then a bunch of blades extended from his Innocence, covering a wide area so Tyki couldn't just step to the side and dodge, which in turn made him leap back to avoid them. Dylan stood up, turning his Innocence back to a simple sword, but it was taking quite a bit of effort just to stand now. Tyki grinned and snickered, then turned and began to walk away. "Hey, where are you going?" Dylan asked, angered.

Tyki stopped and turned back half way. "I'm leaving you alive, boy, you should be thankful." Dylan wondered.

"But why? You said there was no reason to leave me alive if I wasn't on any of the Noah's list."

"It's because you are very strong and skilled." Tyki answered.

"So?" Dylan asked.

"_So_, I find it hard to believe that the Earl has not taken notice of you with your level of strength, meaning it's possible you _are_ on someone else's list. And it would be rude of me to take someone else's prey knowingly." Tyki said, turning and walking away. "Goodbye, ex-Exorcist boy. May our paths cross again." He said, and Dylan was to worn out to try and stop him.


	15. Innocence, Second Level

_15th Dusk: Innocence: Second Level_

After recuperating from his battle with Tyki Mikk, which he was lucky to have lived through at all, Dylan headed into the woods and for another town. After so long of doing this, he had to admit he was getting sick of always moving, but he knew any extended length of time in one place set the risk of being found by the Order. If he really wanted to protect the Order and his friends there, he had to keep moving. Who knew when Hevlaska's Prophecy would come to life, and he might turn against them.

It took half a day to get through the forest, but when he did, he found another town to go through. Just like always, and starting to fell like an instinct, Dylan uncovered his Innocence for everyone to see and lure out any Akuma that may be around. He had been wondering through the town for almost an hour when someone stood out at Dylan. At first glance, he appeared to be an average beggar boy, but Dylan saw that his eyes were fixed in an expression Dylan couldn't quite describe on his Innocence. However, Dylan wasn't going to just attack since he wasn't sure.

Dylan continued on, and the boy didn't do anything but fallow him, or rather his Innocence with his eyes as he past. Then, the boy stood up and began to fallow Dylan, the same expression he couldn't describe fixed upon his sword. The boy did not approach Dylan, nor did he say anything.

Finally, Dylan turned to him and asked. "You want something kid?"

The boy then grinned a crazy grin at Dylan, and he knew what happened next. The boy's body was ripped apart by the monster that lived inside, an Akuma. It was a level 2, and just as always, anyone around the scene ran away in fright. Dylan jumped back and pulled out his Innocence, then examined the Akuma. This level 2 almost didn't seem to have a solid shape, but rather was a horrible stuck together pile of liquid that somehow didn't fall to the floor in a puddle.

The Akuma spoke, "Well, well Exorcist, it took you long enough to figure me out."

"Don't kid yourself, I've been on to you the whole time, I was waiting on you to transform. When that didn't happen, I confronted you." Dylan told the Akuma.

"I see, it doesn't matter anyways, I'm going to destroy you!"

"Go ahead and try," Dylan told it, then extended the blade of his Innocence to stab the Akuma in its center, but it didn't explode somehow.

"Hee, you'll have to do better than that to destroy me." The Akuma said, and Dylan contracted his blade.

The Akuma leapt at Dylan and swung what he guessed was it's hand at him. He swung at it with his blade, cutting it off and keeping it from hitting him, but as it hit the ground, it disintegrated the grass and dirt it sat on.

"Now you see?" The Akuma asked. "My body is made of an acid that can melt anything but Innocence. One good hit from me and you're done for."

"Then I won't give you the chance." Dylan said, making his sword longer so it reached the Akuma and cut the head of its acid body off, and the head fell to the floor and burned a hole through the rock. Then the Akuma just reformed the head, completely unaffected.

"Nice try, but no." The Akuma mocked Dylan and ran toward him, swinging its arm down on him. In reaction, Dylan made his Innocence into a shield to protect himself.

Dylan jumped back changing his Innocence into a rifle gun and shooting a few rounds at the Akuma which had no effect on him at all. The Akuma ran and attacked Dylan again, and Dylan jumped back to avoid it. The rounds Dylan fired came back around, catching the Akuma off-guard, but still not doing any damage.

The Akuma began to attack Dylan over and over again, Dylan dodging and blocking everything while trying to figure out how to beat this thing. At this point, al he knew was that this Akuma was made of acid liquid, and that didn't help him any. He thought through the battle so far trying to figure something that would give him a hint as to destroy this Akuma.

Finally something stuck out to him, whenever Dylan cut off a chunk of the acid, the Akuma didn't try to control that acid any longer, or rather he couldn't. Thinking of this, he could determine that the Akuma must have some sort of central piece that is keeping him together, and any acid separated from the main body could no longer be controlled. If he could pinpoint that central device and hit it, the Akuma would be destroyed.

Dylan jumped back and change his Innocence into a sword again and swinging it widely at the Akuma. Dylan cut off the acid body's head, right arm, and some of its side, but it all was in vein as the acid body reformed itself and the acid he cut off feel to the ground.

"Well, at least that proved my theory." Dylan said. "You can't control the acid removed from your main body, which means you must have a central piece keeping the acid in shape."

"Not bad Exorcist boy, but that knowledge won't help you if you can't find the central piece." The Akuma remarked. "I can move that piece around my body, so its never in one spot for more than a second, all you know is that it's in my acid body."

"Tch, I'll find it." Dylan says, changing his Innocence to a hand gun and firing off four shots.

The Akuma didn't budge at all as the shots went through him with no effect at all. Dylan had the bullets swings around, continually piercing the Akuma's acid body over and over, but still he didn't hit its central piece.

The bullets came back to Dylan's gun and Dylan changed it back to a sword, but stumbled and used it to keep him up. "Dang it, I'm starting to reach my limit."

"Oh, getting tired already? Well then, allow me to put you out of your misery." The Akuma said, approaching Dylan.

As the Akuma was now on top of Dylan, and readied its final attack. "No!" Dylan shouted plunging his sword into the Akuma's chest.

"Hee, getting desperate now are we, haven't we covered that won't work already?" the Akuma said, but then Dylan's Innocence began to glow bright; not with it's usual glow, but with something much different.

"Innocence... level 2." Dylan said, and his Innocence surged with an electrical charge that traveled through the liquid acid of the Akuma's body and electrocuting its central piece, finally causing it to explode.

Dylan fell down as his Innocence deactivated from overuse. After a few minutes, some of the townspeople came over and saw that the monster was destroyed, and a couple rushed over to Dylan to help him up.

"Are you alright boy?" One man asked as he supported Dylan.

"I'll be fine, I just need a place to spend the night and some food for when I get going." Dylan replied.

"Of course, anything you need." The other man said and the two began to carry him into town.

"Wait," Dylan said. "Get that for me." He instructed, looking back at his deactivated Innocence.

"Right," The second man said, running over to pick it up and get it back to Dylan.


	16. The Daydream

_16th Dusk: The Daydream_

Dylan spent a couple days recuperating in the town, which was a lot longer than he was comfortable with, but it couldn't be helped. Once Dylan was well again, he thanked the townspeople for their hospitality and left with the food they gave him for his travels immediately. After he left, Dylan was still feeling weak, but it wasn't in a physical sense from the battle that happened, but a mental weakness because he had had his dream again last night. He was really starting to worry about this dream of his because it didn't make any sense. There was no point to the dream at all it seemed, Dylan knew it was connected to Hevlaska's prophecy, but everything was backwards. Hevlaska said if his Innocence was nurtured wrong, which he was almost positive it was now, he would betray the Order, but in fact because of his fear of doing so, he fled the Order in an attempt to keep them safe. He felt that if he just kept fallowing his feelings, at some point it would all make sense.

"Dylan," Dylan heard someone speak his name behind him, but when he turned no one was there.

"Don't fall for it." Dylan heard, and looked in the direction it came from, but again there was nothing.

"Don't fall for it Dylan." This was crazy, Dylan could swear he was hearing Cloud's voice right now, but her words sounded like the ones from his dream.

"Just keep going boy." This time the Earl's voice was behind him, but still no one was there.

"There's nothing stopping you from moving forward." The Earl's voice echoed.

"Don't fall for it Dylan." Cloud's voice repeated.

"Don't fall for what?" Dylan asked aloud to the figments of his imagination.

"Keep walking the way your walking boy, fallow your instincts." The Earl said.

"Keep your head Dylan, Don't listen to him." Cloud said.

"There's no need to listen to anyone but yourself boy. Just walk forward now," The Earl said.

Dylan was losing his mind, he couldn't stand this nightmare anymore, even though he knew nothing was there, he pulled his Innocence and swung behind him. However, instead of hitting nothing, his sword was caught by someone's hand; the hand belonged to Tyki Mikk.

"Something wrong, ex-Exorcist?" He asked, and scared senseless, Dylan jumped back. "Not keeping up are you ex-Exorcist? You seem out of sorts." Tyki said.

"Just keep walking boy." The Earl said.

"Don't fall for it Dylan." Cloud said.

"Something wrong ex-Exorcist?" Tyki said.

The three of them kept repeating the same lines over and over again to Dylan, and Dylan was confused beyond belief.

Suddenly, all three voices were interrupted by a fourth voice. "Why did you leave?" Dylan became wide-eyed and didn't even want to look back to see if she was really there.

Instead he whispered, "Le...Lenalee?" That was the voice he heard.

"Why did you leave us?" Her voice asked again.

"I couldn't stay," Dylan answered the voice. "You would have been in danger because of me."

Cloud's voice began again. "Don't fall/"

"Why did you leave?" Lenalee cut in and asked again. "Why did you/"

"Get away!" Dylan yelled, turning and finding once again no one.

For a moment all was quiet, but then the Earl's voice spoke one more. "Keep going forward boy." The order was fallowed with a sinister laugh.

Dylan stayed completely still and silent for a minute... 10 minutes... 30... an hour? He had no idea how long he stood before finally breathing again and telling himself the daydream was over. Dylan stood upright and put his Innocence on his waist and began to walk again.

"That's right, all I can do now is walk forward." He told himself, his tone completely empty and void of hope. "It's all I can do, there's no turning back now."

_2 years later_

**(Note: Keep in mind that this is still about 1 1/2 years before the beginning of D. Gray-Man's actual series)**

Dylan swung his blade and it changed instantly to a ball and chain that slammed into the level 1 Akuma, destroying it. It had now been over three years since that boy he was had his family killed by an Akuma. He should have died that day too, but he was saved by an Exorcist named Cloud Nine, that was also the day he gained the power of Innocence, and became an Exorcist himself.

In those first few months he spent at the Order, he had met allies, made friends, and fought Akuma to save people. But there was a prophecy given to him, a prophecy that said he would either become a great asset, or a grave enemy, it became clear to him he was developing into an enemy, and as such he fled from the Order, determined never to return, that way they could be safe.

But now he was 18 years old, and through horrible dreams that fallowed a cycle to his prophecy, Dylan Aiken had become a completely different person. He was still moving around as much he could so the Order would not find him and fighting Akuma so he could get food. But his reasons and methods were far different.

"Sir, thank you for destroying that creature," The mayor of the town told Dylan. "If there's anything we can do for you don't/" But the man was stopped short by Dylan shifting his Innocence into a blade and pointing at him.

"You're not an Akuma are you?" Dylan asked, a menacing tone in his voice.

"A-Akuma? No, I'm not of course not!" The mayor pleaded.

Dylan lowered his sword. "Get me some food." It wasn't a request. "Once you do I'm getting out of here."

The mayor was now frightened of Dylan, but not angry with him, thinking he might do the same thing if he were in his shoes. "Yes, of course sir."

After getting a few days supply of food, Dylan left the town just as he always did. And after a few hours of walking, he stopped and ate a meal.

In the middle of eating, a voice spoke. "Dylan," It was Cloud's voice, after two years, Dylan no longer had any reaction to this daydream, all it did was remind him why he was here, doing this.

The daydream went its course, Cloud's voice and the Earl's voice sounded from all around, then Tyki Mikk was added to the mix for a reason Dylan did not understand. Soon after, the three were cut off by Lenalee's voice, which was the only part of this daydream that still bothered Dylan, because hearing her voice would always remind him of his sister that she looked so much like. At this point he would always say one thing, "Get away." And the voices would stop for a moment until the Earl would say once more to keep walking forward, ending the Daydream.

Dylan just sat there for a moment, no longer eating, then packed up his food and set off again; he always lost his appetite after the daydream. Dylan walked all day without getting to another town, so he slept on the ground. When Dylan woke up the next day, he sighed.

Ever since the daydream began, his regular dream had stopped, which he was both thankful for and disappointed by. He was glad it stopped because he would always wake up with the pain of feeling his Innocence stab through him, even though it never happened, and that pain would continue for hours. But he was disappointed because he felt like the start of the daydream, he became even farther from the truth of his Innocence's prophecy than he ever was, and that made him worried he was closer to becoming the Order's complete enemy.

Around noon Dylan found a city to try and find more Akuma to kill so he could get some more food for himself. Just as always Dylan showed off his Innocence so any Akuma lurking around would see it and react. He was walking around for about 15 minutes when a couple of men walked up to him and grabbed him.

"Well look what we got here, an Exorcist." One of the men said, and Dylan jumped back, and the two Akuma crawled out of their human skins to reveal their true forms, instantly spreading panic with the citizen's.

One was a level 1, the other was level 2. The level 2 looked like its hands and feet were made of blades, had a stick figure body, and the head of a bear. Dylan pulled his Innocence and turned it into a rifle, and shot at the level 2. The bullet went so fast the Akuma barely realize Dylan had fired before it was destroyed, then the level 1 readied its guns and was about to fire when it was caught from behind by the bullets round cycle, which remerged with the rifle gun and Dylan changed it back to a sword.

He put his Innocence on his side and turned to find a citizen to tell that it was over, but when he turned, he saw two girls staring awestruck at him, and Dylan recognized them. If it wasn't their appearances and their Order coats that told him who they were, it was the weapons they held.

One of the girls had a pair of gauntlets and the other had a small sword. The two women before him were Gwen and Tina, his old friends from the Order that, like him, were apprentices of Cloud Nine. For a few minutes, none of them said or did anything, Dylan was also shocked to see them, although his face barely showed it. After so long of avoiding the Order, of all people he could have run into, he _had_ to run into these two.

"D-Dylan?" Tina asked, unable to believe it.


	17. The Empty City

_17th Dusk: The Empty City_

"D-Dylan?" Tina asked, but Dylan didn't reply. "It is you, isn't it?" Dylan remained silent.

Dylan stepped back from Tina and Gwen. "I..." He begins to speak but stops himself then ran away.

"Dylan," Tina and Gwen shout then begin to chase after him.

"Leave me alone!" Dylan shouts back at Tina and Gwen.

"Dylan, you don't need to run." Gwen tried to reason with him.

"We're your friends, please stop Dylan." Tina called out.

"Go away!" Dylan yelled at them, turning around and changing his Innocence into a hammer and smashed it into the ground to obstruct Tina and Gwen's path.

It took a moment for the two girls to get over, and once they had, they didn't see Dylan anywhere. "Damn," Gwen said.

"Dylan!" Tina called. "Dylan, come out. Please come out!"

Dylan was still running away, taking a U-turn around a corner, but he could still here Tina calling him. She sounded so sad, and it killed Dylan to have to be running from them, but he couldn't be near them, he couldn't have anything to do with the Order anymore.

"Wait a second," Dylan said to himself and stopped running for a moment. "If Tina and Gwen are here, that means there must be Innocence somewhere in this city. And if there's Innocence, that means there's probably more Akuma than the two I squashed already." Dylan figured. "But wait, if there is Innocence, why haven't I seen anything out of the ordinary happen? And there's no one around to-" Dylan stopped himself, realizing immediately what the phenomenon created by the Innocence was.

He had focused so much on running from Tina and Gwen, he hadn't even noticed everyone else in the city was completely gone, from the point the Akuma showed their true forms and the citizen's panicked, he hadn't seen or heard anything to signify others being in the city other than Tina and Gwen.

"Wait a minute, why do I care? Not like I'm part of the Order anymore, it's Tina and Gwen's job, they can handle it." Dylan told himself, then began to walk away but stopped and looked back. "Damn it." Dylan felt like he couldn't leave yet, and began searching for the Innocence.

"Come on Tina, we'd better start looking for the Innocence, I don't think we'll be getting through to Dylan today." Gwen said, looking away so Tina didn't see her sad face.

"Right," Tina said, disappointed, and they both began walking around the newly deserted city.

"Well, the Innocence seems to be at work right now, just like the rumor said; everyone in the city vanishes without a trace. I guess we aren't affected because of our Innocence." Gwen inferred. "And if that's true, it probably means Akuma aren't affected either, so at least they'll be easy to spot."

"Right..." Tina said, only half-listening to Gwen.

"Hey, come on Tina." Gwen tried to comfort her. "I'm sure Dylan will come to his senses soon." She said, but she wasn't even able to convince herself with that statement, much less Tina.

Dylan had been searching for about ten minutes but hadn't found even a trace of the Innocence. "Why am I doing this?" He asked himself. He tried to walk away again, forget he ever saw Tina and Gwen, but there was something inside him telling him to stay and find the Innocence. "Where could it be?" He wondered.

Suddenly the citizens reappeared. They all walked around the city as if they had never left, which made Dylan wonder if they even noticed that they vanished. "Hey," Dylan asked a woman. "Did you notice anything strange happen just a moment ago?"

"Something strange?" The women sounded puzzled. "I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary." She replied, which confirmed Dylan's theories. "Why, did you see something odd?"

"Um, no, it must have just been my imagination." Dylan replied and walked away.

Dylan continued to wonder the town looking for the Innocence, still asking himself in his head why on earth he was going through the trouble; especially when he could run into Tina and Gwen again any minute. Nonetheless He continued searching, and then after 15 minutes of searching, the Innocence's power activated, and everyone in the city vanished again.

"Still nothing." Dylan said to himself, not having found a trace of the Innocence. Dylan heard footsteps approaching, and thinking it must be Tina and Gwen, he ducked behind a corner.

When Dylan looked around the corner, he didn't see Tina or Gwen, but instead someone he didn't know. "This is one big city to be looking through for Innocence." The man said. The fact the Innocence wasn't affecting him and that he knew about it proved he was an Akuma, so Dylan walked out in front of them man, glaring at him, and the man stopped. "Huh, a human? But that must mean..." The man began, and looked at Dylan's sword. "You're an Exorcist." He said then shed his human skin to reveal his Akuma form, and he was just level 1, and Dylan didn't hesitate a moment to cut it clean in half with his Innocence.

Tina and Gwen saw the Akuma's explosion from where they were, and realized it must be Dylan. "Dylan!" Tina screamed and tried to run over to where it happened.

Gwen stopped her though. "Tina, we have to keep looking for the Innocence." She told her, worried about what Dylan would do if they ran after him again.

"He needs us though. He needs to know we're still his friends." Tina tried to get Gwen to let her go.

"Tina, he turned his weapon on us!" Gwen told Tina.

"He did that to get away, he wasn't attacking us." Tina retorted, and broke free of Gwen and began to run for Dylan's location.

"Tina," Gwen started running after her.

"That explosion probably alerted Tina and Gwen I'm still here, I should get away from here before-" Dylan said to himself, but then noticed something glowing around a corner. "That's..."

When Dylan went to check out the glow, he found the Innocence wedged into a hole in the ground, and he chipped it out with his blade, and held it close to his face.

Tina and Gwen reached where they saw the explosion, but they didn't see Dylan. "See Tina, why wouldn't he have run." Gwen said.

"So he could give you this." Dylan said and walked around the corner and held up the Innocence, then tossed it over to them, afterward turning to run away again.

"Wait Dylan!" Tina called, and Dylan looked back at her. "Don't go; come back with us to the Order." Tina tried to convice him. Dylan looked at her and Gwen with regretful eyes, but then ran around the corner without saying anything. "Dylan!" Tina called again and she and Gwen ran around the corner, but lost sight of him as the cities people returned from the Innocence's spell, and he vanished into the crowd.

Gwen tried to comfort Tina by putting her arm around her, but neither of them could help but look sad. "Let's go Tina." Gwen said, and the two of them left to head back to the Order.

Dylan ran out of the city and as far away as he could get as fast as possible, only stopping when he was completely out of breath. "Tina, Gwen, I wish you could understand. I want to go back... but I can't, not now." He said to himself, and layed down to rest for a minute.

"So, how did it go?" Komui asked when Tina and Gwen returned with the Innocence.

"No problem, but we do have something important to report." Gwen replied.

"What is it?" Komui asked.

"We ran into Dylan in the city during the job." Gwen answered.

"Dylan, you saw him!?" Komui was surprised, as this was the first time they had gotten any news of him since he left the Order almost 4 years ago. "What did he do?" He asked, thinking about his Innocence's prophecy.

"He actually ended up being the one who found and gave us the Innocence." Gwen said.

"Did he seem aggressive at all?" Komui wondered.

"No, he wasn't aggressive!" Tina shouted, unable to believe Komui would suggest such a thing. "He seemed... more frightened by us."

"Frightened?" Komui repeated. "Hm, interesting, maybe the prophecy hasn't been fulfilled yet after all, perhaps there's still hope to get him back."

"You really think so?" Gwen asked.

"Yes," Komui replied. "But for now we should keep the information you met him between us, I don't want any of the others getting their hopes up."

"Right, come on Tina, let's go get some rest." Gwen said and left with Tina.


	18. Where there's a Will

_18th Dusk: Where There's a Will_

"You wanted to see me, Supervisor Komui?" Gwen asked as she entered Komui's office.

"Yes Gwen, take a seat." Komui said, in a surprisingly serious tone, which made Gwen worry and she sat down.

"Is this about Dylan?" Gwen asked.

"Yes," Komui answered. "As I said when you gave me your last report, with the way you described Dylan's actions toward you, it is likely the prophecy tagged to his Innocence has not been fulfilled either way yet. Therefore, there's still a chance for us to get to him before we completely loose him."

"But with that said, you're afraid we don't have much time for that?" Gwen guessed.

"Yes, and it's for that purpose I've called you here." Komui told Gwen. "I want to send you on a search mission to find Dylan Aiken."

At this, Gwen was thoroughly shocked. "But when Dylan first abandoned The Order, you told us not to head after him. Why change your mind now?"

"The reason I didn't want anyone chasing him at first was because my original belief was that his prophecy had been completely fulfilled, and there was no more we could do for him. Your report made me rethink my conclusion. As such, I am issuing you the order to find him. And help him anyway you can."

"What about Tina, shouldn't she be part of this too, then; or even Sol?"

"No, Tina is too distressed and conflicted whenever it comes to Dylan. It would be too much putting this on top of her. And Sol doesn't yet know we've even had contact with Dylan, I want to keep it between us for now. It's the best choice to just send you on this mission. And I don't want Tina to know what your doing either, this is strictly a top-secret mission; no one is to know about it!" Komui stressed to Gwen. "Is that understood?" He asked, but before Gwen could answer the door to the office suddenly burst open.

Storming in, apparently hearing every word was Lenalee. Grown up now Lenalee wore her Order uniform that had a skirt with frills on the sides, and her hair was in two ponytails that went just past her shoulders. Seeing her Komui stood up in shock and slight embarrassment. "You've had contact with him?" She asked her brother.

Komui tried to reason. "Lenalee-"

"You made contact with Dylan and you didn't tell me?" Lenalee was quite frustrated to have to figure this out on her own.

"Lenalee, we don't know his exact circumstances yet, I didn't want to get all your hopes up because of one time!" Komui tried to calm Lenalee, but she just seemed to get more upset.

"You hid it from me, from all of us? Sol, Suman, Kanda, Me; you weren't going to tell any of us? Did you even inform General Cloud Nine!?" Lenalee inquired, and at her last one Komui felt completely oppressed, this becoming a completely one-sided argument. "You haven't, have you?"

Komui sighed. "No, but-"

"But nothing!" Lenalee yelled. "There's no excuse not to at least tell the General! You're sending Gwen to find Dylan right? Then I'm going too!" She declared.

At this Gwen stood up between Lenalee and her brother. "Now wait Lenalee, I know how you feel but unfortunately your brother is right. The best idea right now is for me to go find Dylan by myself."

"What are you talking about?" Lenalee shouted at Gwen, and then stepped past her and up to Komui. "The day Dylan fled he left a note that was addressed to me! If anyone could bring him back to his senses it's going to be me!" Lenalee screamed in her fury.

"And what if you can't!?" Komui yelled back at Lenalee, surprising everyone including himself. After realizing his own outbreak Komui settled his voice before continuing. "I told you we don't know Dylan's exact circumstances yet. So what happens if you try to talk him into coming back and he attacks you instead of listening?" He asked Lenalee. "You are still too inexperienced with your Innocence, Dylan will have you outmatched and you'll be put into an even worse situation." Lenalee wanted to argue back, but it seemed as though she had lost her ability to speak seeing her brother this way. "And the way you've been this whole time only further proves my point. I said I didn't want Tina to go because she is too conflicted when it comes to Dylan, you are no better. You're getting angry and yelling over it, you wouldn't be able to handle it all if you went and actually met with Dylan. Gwen is the only one who will be able to keep her emotions in check while talking with Dylan; that's why it's going to be her and her only on this mission." Komui finished and sat down again.

For a minute no one said a word, Lenalee and Gwen were still getting over how Komui had yelled at his precious sister. Finally Lenalee straitened herself and spoke. "I'm sorry, brother." She said.

Komui sighed "It's alright Lenalee; I know how close you all got to Dylan."

"Not about that..." Lenalee corrected her brother, making both Komui and Gwen look at her with suspicious looks. "I stand by what I said, if anyone will be able to talk sense into Dylan now, it would be me. But I'm sorry, that I made you yell at me." She said with tears forming in her eyes, and then she turned around and walked to the door. "I... I'll just leave now." She said and closed the door behind her.

It took a few minutes for the original atmosphere in the room between Komui and Gwen to return, but once it had, the two of them got back to business. "So, from what you've told me, I've made an estimate of the next places Dylan is likely to go, and figured out where you'll be able to intercept him at." Komui said, handing Gwen a map with the city of Dijon circled on it. "I want you head there immediately and find Dylan as quickly as you can. Don't try to drag him back all at once. When you meet him do not confront him. Ask him to give you a chance, I don't want a situation where you're accepting him, I want it so that he's accepting you." Komui told Gwen.

"I understand, I'll depart as soon as I'm able." Gwen said, then stood up and left the office.

Once Gwen was gone, Komui gripped a document paper in his hand, squeezing his hand tight. Lenalee had apologized for making him yell at her; but in his mind, it should have been him apologizing for yelling, and that was killing him inside.

"Hey Gwen," Sol said as they past each other in the hall, Tina was with him. "Me and Tina were about to go down to lunch, want to come?" he asked.

"Oh, I'd love to, but Komui just assigned me to a mission. It's probable there's Innocence is over in Dijon, and I need to leave right away." Gwen lied.

"Another mission? Didn't you and Tina just get back from one a few days ago?" Sol asked.

"Yeah, he should send someone else." Tina agreed with Sol.

"It's alright guys, really." Gwen told them. "So look, I've really got to get going. I'll call when I'm on my way back, okay?" She said and left.

Gwen left The Order and started heading for Dijon by car, arriving a few hours later. When she arrived in town she looked around, trying to find Dylan if he was anywhere nearby. Also, she had changed into casual attire, wearing a purple shirt and black pants; if Dylan saw a Black Order uniform, he would run for the hills far before she had a chance to do or say anything.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for someone." Gwen asked a man passing her, thinking perhaps someone had seen him if he were here. "He had brown hair, about 5' 9'', and wears a brown cloth over his body." She said, describing Dylan as she saw him on her last mission.

The man thought for a minute, then answered. "I do believe I saw someone fitting that description about 15 minutes ago. This man you're looking for, he carry around a sword?"

"Yes! Where did you see him?" Gwen said, remembering that when she first saw Dylan, his Innocence was already released in a sword state.

"I saw him over by St. Benigne's Cathedral. He was going east from there, kind of scared me with that blade of his though." The man said, and then Gwen ran off in the direction of the Cathedral.

After reaching the Cathedral, Gwen ran east as the man said Dylan had. She only stopped a couple times to make sure if Dylan had kept going the same direction or if he took a turn so she wouldn't lose his trail. At last she saw Dylan, walking quickly through Dijon with his Innocence poised, ready to strike.

"Dylan!" Gwen shouted, and stopped running, putting her hands on her knees and panting after running for so long.

"Dylan... please," Gwen breathed, hoping with all her heart he would listen to her, but more importantly, would let her listen. "Let me," She started, finally catching her breath. "Let me buy you lunch." She said, but right now Dylan just stood and stared at Gwen, not even moving.


	19. There's a Way

_19th Dusk: There's a Way_

Dylan stared at Gwen, focused on her without a word or showing of emotion on his face. He knew this wasn't a coincidence; Gwen must have come here looking for him specifically. "Let me buy you lunch." When Gwen said this, Dylan almost wasn't paying any attention to Gwen, but rather thinking completely on how he should run.

Dylan took a step away, but to his surprise, Gwen didn't do anything. Dylan expected her to call out to him again or make a gesture signifying she didn't want him to leave. But she just stood there as if waiting for a response. Dylan took another step way and still Gwen did nothing to keep him from doing so. Now he felt like Gwen's motives were slightly different from what he believed.

"I'm not here to bring you back Dylan, I just want to talk." Gwen said.

Dylan was unsure of what to do. His better instincts were telling him to get out of here as quickly as he could, but for some reason he was thinking he should stay and listen to Gwen. Taking yet another step back, Gwen still didn't even flinch in an attempt to keep him from running. Somehow, against all his better judgment, Dylan felt it would be alright to talk with Gwen, and he stopped walking away.

Still Dylan was hesitant to agree, he was still trying to convice himself to run from Gwen in his mind, but his body wasn't moving. But then, completely without noticing it himself, he replied. "Alright, Gwen."

Gwen lit up with surprise, having anticipating the opposite response, but then gave Dylan a warm smile, happy he had agreed. It was the first step. "Follow me, I know a place that would be good." Gwen said, and just adding to Dylan's surprise, she turned away and began walking with the expectation of him following.

In a case like this, Dylan would have expected Gwen to walk over to him before leading him to the restaurant, that way she could be sure he didn't end up running off despite agreeing to go with her. What's more, she isn't even looking back at him to check if he's coming; If Dylan gave it a second thought, he could just walk the other direction and Gwen wouldn't even realize it until she turned around.

The way Gwen was acting gave a whole new definition to the term, 'giving a good impression'. Gwen was going all out to ensure it was clear she had no intention of forcing Dylan to do anything, that if Dylan wanted to, he could completely look the other way and leave. But even though Dylan was thinking he should, he still walked forward and followed Gwen. The restaurant Gwen took Dylan to was a place called La Mere Folle. It wasn't a very fancy restaurant, but the food was pretty good.

Neither Gwen nor Dylan spoke through the appetizers, and only once their entrees arrived did Gwen finally speak up. "You know, everyone's really worried about you Dylan." She said, but Dylan didn't respond. He didn't keep from replying because he didn't want to, but rather because he wasn't sure what to say. "Tina especially, you saw how she was last time. Seeing you again was like a dream come true, and you ran from us." Gwen was choosing her words carefully to make sure she didn't end up pushing Dylan into anything.

The most important thing was that she avoided asking question; asking questions would make it look like she was trying to get the information from Dylan. She didn't want that; she wanted Dylan to talk to her and tell her what was going on with his own free will. If he couldn't communicate with her without pressure, than there was no hope of getting him to return to the Order at all.

Still Dylan wouldn't speak; he wanted to find the right words to express what he was feeling before he tried to talk. For the same reasons as Gwen, Dylan didn't want to sound like he was forcing anything onto her.

After another moment of silence, Gwen continued. "Sol's managed to keep a strong front, more for Tina and me than him. Suman and Lenalee are keeping themselves together, and Kanda as you might guess honestly doesn't care in the first place."

"I'm sorry." Dylan interrupted Gwen's speech, and she looked up at him. "I didn't want to cause you harm, so I left, but at the same time, it was leaving that caused you all the most pain."

"Yeah..." Gwen replied simply, and although she really wanted to say, 'Then just come back' she kept that thought inside.

"I know what your thinking, but I can't go back either. You probably think that's the only way, and you're probably right. But I can't go back, not the way things are now; I need you to understand that." Dylan told Gwen.

Gwen understood what Dylan was trying to convey to an extent. However the true meanings of his words were eluding her. She understood that Dylan was in conflict within himself and staying at the Order would have only worsened his situation; but certain phrases he was using didn't seem to fit as well as they should. 'I didn't want to cause you harm', and 'not the way things are now' seemed out of place.

'I didn't want to cause you harm' was debatable since she knew about the Prophecy of Dylan's Innocence. It implied he may end up causing them harm and attack them. However with the way he reacted to that news, how could he think that he was turning against them? 'Not the way things are now' was the one that really didn't make sense to Gwen.

No matter how she looked at the phrase, she kept wondering what kind of circumstances he was referring to. It didn't sound like he was talking about how things at the Order were or directly about his prophecy, but as if there were some third variable she didn't know anything about he was talking of.

Thinking about all this, Gwen asked the one question she could. "Is there anything I can do to help out?" This question, rather than put pressure on Dylan, was one that did nearly the exact opposite by offering something to help.

"Go back to the Order." Dylan said, and then stood up with a start. "I can't bear being around you, If you want to help at all you'll stay away from me." Dylan told Gwen. "I need to leave, I'm sorry." Dylan said and walked out of the restaurant, and despite all urges, Gwen made sure she didn't lurch forward at Dylan in an attempt to keep him from leaving, that way he still felt like she wasn't pressuring him, and instead silently watched him leave.

Gwen sighed once Dylan was gone. But if nothing else, Gwen got some sort of grasp on Dylan's situation and from this maybe she and Komui could figure something out to get him to come back. With that in mind and Dylan's demand to stay away, Gwen paid the check and left for the Order again.

The second Gwen got back to the Order, she went strait to Komui's office. When she got there Komui looked surprised. "Gwen, you're back already? It hasn't even been a day. Did you find Dylan?" He inquired.

"Yes," Gwen answered. "And I think I've gotten some information that might help us figure out what's going on with him."

Gwen went on to explain what happened with her meeting with Dylan. When she was done, Komui thought on it for a moment before responding. "You said your main concern was why he said he couldn't return- 'The way things are now.' Why is that?"

"Because of the way he said it. It didn't sound like he was talking about us or the prophecy. It sounded more like he was talking about himself, more importantly… to himself." Gwen answered. "I feel like if I just knew what he meant, _really_ meant by that, then I'd be able to convince him to come back."

"But he wouldn't open up, huh?" Komui figured.

"Yeah," Gwen confirmed. "He went and gave me bare minimum information. He's trying to protect us, but if we don't have all the facts we can't make him realize he's wrong."

"To be realistic, we can't even be sure he is wrong." Komui said suddenly.

Gwen looked at Komui with a look of disbelief. "What, how can you say that?" She asked him

"He left the Order for a reason, Gwen. What if it was a good one?" Komui suggested.

Gwen practically became hysterical at the thought. "No, Dylan's just confused!" She declared.

"Gwen/"

"No, I could tell when I spoke with him. He doesn't understand what's happening any more than we do. If we can just figure out what he's thinking… I know we can bring him back." Gwen persisted. "I know he's not out of reach… not yet."

On the other side of the door to Komui's office, Lenalee was listening in on their conversation. She had seen Gwen come back and knew it was about Dylan. She didn't want to interrupt this time though. She just wanted to know this time, entering and making another scene would upset her brother, and she didn't want that.

When Komui had suggested Dylan might have had a good reason for leaving, she wanted to outburst. And she would have if Gwen didn't beat her to the punch. Hearing Gwen speak her thoughts for her was all she needed, so she walked away.

"I've finished my report, I'll be going now." Gwen said, and left the room.

Komui sighed once she was gone. For the second time today he'd regretted having opened his mouth. Gwen had gotten the wrong impression though, of what he meant to say. When Komui had said maybe Dylan had a good reason, he hadn't meant maybe he really was turning against them. What he meant by that was that perhaps he knew what he was doing when he left; maybe he knew where he was going…


	20. The Solemn Return

_20th Dusk: The Solemn Return_

Dylan had decided to stay in Dijon a night even after his meeting with Gwen. It had appeared she wanted to convince him to return without making feel oppressed- like it was his choice. From that he discerned Gwen probably left Dijon soon after he left her at the restaurant. After he had a small breakfast Dylan set out, heading south.

By the time he arrived in the next city, it was almost 5:00 P.M. and he had missed out on a lunch. He had some money on him, but not enough for a meal at a restaurant, so he made a stop by a pub to get something drink.

"Here you go." The woman tending the pub said and placed a glass down for Dylan.

Dylan had taken a sip but then realized that the woman was still looking at him. "What is it?" He asked, her quizzical face making him uncomfortable.

The woman jumped slightly at being addressed; having only half realized she was staring at him. "Oh, sorry; it's just that I could swear I've seen you somewhere before." She told Dylan, straining herself to try and remember.

"I doubt it, I'm just wandering around, but the chances I've been here before are low." Dylan answered.

"Are you sure? Because I'm telling you your face looks _really _familiar." The woman insisted.

Dylan sighed and took a gander at the woman, trying to remember if he had in fact seen her somewhere before. It might have simply because she said something, but the more he looked at her the more he felt he did know her from somewhere. Shaking the feeling he said, "No, I'm sure we haven't met."

Still the woman was persistent. "Are your positive? I'm telling you I've seen you before; it's on the tip of my tongue." The woman said and raked her brain for the answer. "What's your name?" She asked Dylan, determined to figure out who he was.

Dylan thought for a second, looking at the woman with a quizzical face, not exactly wanting to partake in this, but finally answered. "Dylan Aiken."

Immediately after hearing his name the woman shrieked. "Aha!" She had shouted so loud the other people in the pub looked around at her to see what had happened. "I knew it; I knew I'd seen you before! You're George and Marie's kid!" She said.

Dylan's eyes went wide. George and Marie Aiken; those were the names of Dylan's deceased parents. Much to Dylan's surprise, quite a few of the other people in the pub began whispering among themselves; apparently they too had recognized who he was. "W-where am I?" Dylan suddenly asked himself. There was only one place this many people should have known about them.

"Dylan Aiken, are you for real?" The woman spoke sharply to him. "Are you seriously going to sit there and say you didn't recognize your own hometown when you arrived?"

Being told this, Dylan was stunned. He had literally come to this city by sheer coincidence and luck of choice. Since he wasn't trying to come here he hadn't even thought about it- even less so since he hadn't been here in almost four years. Beaune, France. The place Dylan had grown up as a child.

After figuring out who Dylan was, everyone at the pub was eccentric. His family was pretty popular while they were living here because of the whole blacksmith thing, and because of it they had a lot of friends all over the city. The woman tending the pub had been one of his mother's best friends, Desiree. Looking at her now, Dylan was surprised he hadn't recognized her, as she often came over to their house to socialize with his mother. Desiree had long black hair tied back in a ponytail and wore a red shirt and blue skinny jeans.

Desiree insisted that Dylan stay the night at her house since he had planned to just be passing through. Dylan could have thought of a million different excuses to give on why he couldn't stay; but in the same way he had felt he should listen to Gwen when she found him in Dijon, Dylan couldn't bring himself to turn her down.

Once Desiree's shift was over, she immediately rushed to get Dylan to her place and show her family. Her daughter, Laura, had been a good friend of Dylan and his older sister- Emily. Desiree also had a son named Simon, but back then he had only been 6 and seemed to keep to himself mostly. Her husband, Joseph, had also been a good friend of Dylan's father- George.

Desiree led Dylan into her house and to the living room to have him sit on the sofa. She then proceeded to run upstairs and get her family. "Joseph, Laura, Simon, come here. You won't believe who's downstairs right now!" Dylan heard her say as she gathered everyone together.

The first one to make it downstairs was Laura, and froze at the sight of Dylan. Laura had long black hair like her mother and was wearing a brown vest over a white shirt and blue jeans. She had been 14 when Dylan's family moved, so that would make her 17 now.

"Well I'll be! Is that really George's son?" Joseph laughed as he came down the stair, also spurring Laura to speak.

"Hello, Dylan." Laura said.

"Nice to see you again, Laura." Dylan replied in a voice that did not fit the unnerving feeling he had.

Dylan was still thinking it would be better to leave as soon as possible, but he simply could not bring himself to leave. At the same time however he felt happy seeing this place and these people again. He reminded himself that these people were his friends who had nothing to do with the Order, Akuma, or the prophecy of his Innocence. That thought put his mind at ease some, but still he felt uncomfortable.

Just then Simon came down the stairs and looked at Dylan. "Ah Simon, you remember Dylan right; Dylan Aiken?" Desiree asked her son.

Simon looked up and scratched his head as if trying to remember. "A little…" He answered. He was young back then, so it was understandable that he couldn't remember well.

"S-so Dylan, what made you stop by?" Laura asked nervously.

"I was actually just passing through at first." Dylan replied.

"Apparently he didn't even realize where he was at first." Desiree added and laughed. "Well enough standing around here; let's eat!" She said, and began herding everyone to the dinning hall.

While Desiree prepared the food, Joseph started up a conversation. "So Dylan, what's with that sword you're carrying around?" He asked, noting Dylan's Innocence.

Dylan paused; obviously he couldn't tell them about the Order or Akuma, so he would have to sugar-coat it a little. "Well, you could say it has to do with my job… but I really carry around for self-defense."

"Self-defense?" Laura questioned, not quite thinking that would be so necessary.

"I have to use it more often than you think. You'd be surprised what kind of things happen to me." Dylan told her.

"So this job of yours; what do you do? Joseph asked.

Dylan thought of how to answer that as discreetly as possible. "Um… I guess you might say I'm acting as a sword-for-hire?" He said, but it sounded more like a question than a statement. "Which might be part of the reason I use it more than you'd think,"

"Hmm, sounds exciting!" Desiree said as she came into the room and put a bowl of pasta on the table.

"Sounds crazy," Simon said, although he sounded uninterested in the matter. "So you're risking your life for money? What kind of job is that?"

"Simon!" Desiree was ready to scold her son for his rude comment.

"No, it's alright." Dylan stopped Desiree. "He's right, it is a little crazy. I wonder why I do it myself sometimes." He said.

"So why do you do it?" Simon asked.

Dylan shrugged. "I get to help people," He said simply.

"So you just travel from city to city?" Laura asked, and Dylan nodded. "Don't you get lonely?"

"Yeah, but it's better for me that way." Dylan said, although his voice did not support his words, and Laura had a concerned look.

Noticing the saddening atmosphere, Desiree changed the subject. "So, what have your parents been doing the past few years?"

Dylan froze at the question just before he began to eat his food. Naturally, they didn't know anything about the killing of his family since they had moved just a few weeks before the incident; so Desiree didn't realize how horrible the new subject was compared to the last one.

Dylan put his fork down and looked down at his hands. "Dylan…" Desiree began.

"My mom and dad…" Dylan tried to get the words out. "My mom and dad are dead." When Dylan said this, everyone's expressions became filled with shock and strife. "Actually, they all are, even my brother and sisters." Dylan finished. He hadn't actually meant to add that, but the words just came out.

A minute past in silence, and then Desiree spoke again. "I'm sorry!" She said with her head hanging down, and tears were forming.

"It's not your fault; you had no way of knowing." Dylan told her.

"Your whole family, really?" Joseph asked, almost not believing it, but Dylan nodded. "George and Marie…" Dylan nodded. "Your older siblings, Emily and Kenelm…" Another nod, "Even… even your/"

"Dad, stop!" Laura shouted, keeping her father from going any farther than that, for everyone's sake; especially Dylan's.

Another minute of silence past by, and Laura then got up from her chair and rushed up the stairs to her bedroom, crying. "Maybe dinner wasn't such a good idea…" Desiree said, but other than that the table remained silent.


	21. The Solemn Departure

_21st Dusk: The Solemn Departure_

Night time was creeping up on Beaune. Dylan was in the guest room of Desiree's house sitting on a chair next to a window looking out over the city. After telling Desiree and everyone about his family being dead, no one had an appetite anymore. Laura's room was right next to Dylan's, and he could still hear her crying; he couldn't blame her.

They had all been such good friends of Dylan's family, especially Laura. Finding out they were all dead was simply too much for her. Actually bringing it up for the first time since the incident was also a lot of pressure on Dylan himself. It was an event he always thought about and was a weight he would always carry with him; but actually attempting to talk about it was another story all together.

Dylan stared out the window and pictured his family, smiling together like they used to. As Dylan clenched his fist, the door to his room suddenly opened behind him, and when he turned to look, Laura was standing there; she was red in the face and tears were still in the corners of her eyes, but she was holding them back.

"Dylan…" Laura began, speaking slowly, picking her words with the upmost delicacy. "I- are you alright?" She asked.

Dylan sighed. "I'm fine, it was years ago." He said, and then stood up and walked toward the bed.

"Do you, want to talk about it?" Laura asked slowly and gently.

"No,"

Laura gripped her arm and stared at the ground. "Is it painful?"

"No, it's just…" Dylan tried to say why he couldn't talk about it, but he couldn't find the words.

Laura began walking over to Dylan. "I'm so sorry, Dylan." She said, and then the tears she was holding back began to fall down her cheeks. Laura then put her arms around Dylan, half to comfort him and half because she was afraid she might fall otherwise. "I just wish… that I had known sooner." She muffled through tears. "If I had known when it happened, I-"

"Stop it." Dylan interrupted Laura. "You shouldn't have to beat yourself up over this; I was the one there when it happened. I know better than anyone nothing could have been done to save them. I'm not blaming myself or anyone else for anything that happened before, during, or after. So you shouldn't either." Hearing that, Laura stepped back from Dylan, but continued to sob silently. After a moment of choking silence, Dylan rose to his feet. "I have to leave now." He said.

Laura suddenly stopped. "W-what?" She asked with a stutter.

"I shouldn't have come here; I need to leave." Dylan repeated, and then walked out of the room and down the stairs.

Laura chased after him. "No, wait! You don't have to leave-"

"Yes I do." Dylan rejected Laura's wishes as he passed by the other members of her family in the living room his way to the door.

Desiree and the others stood up and followed Dylan as well, wondering what brought this on all of a sudden. "Hey Dylan, what's-" Desiree started, but stopped when Dylan suddenly froze upon opening the front door. "Dylan?" She asked.

"Shh," Dylan hushed Desiree and then gripped the handle of his sword – tightly.

Dylan had no idea what was going on all of a sudden. His Innocence was… shaking. It was like a vibration coming from the core of the blade and it was subtle, so much so he only just caught it. But there was no reason for this, no cause; this had never happened before, not when fighting Akuma, or a Noah. It hadn't happened when obtaining his level 2 skills or from any other stimulant Dylan might have thought of.

Whatever was happening to his Innocence now… was new. Dylan wondered if it was possible he had suddenly achieved a new level of synchronization with his Innocence just from having it activated. If so, then what was it reacting to?

"Dylan," Desiree began. "Is everything alright?"

Dylan wasn't sure, and he couldn't be sure if it was safe until he figured out what his Innocence was reacting to. Was it and Akuma, a Noah, or was it something else entirely? He looked around for anyone suspicious, but no one was reacting to his Innocence. "All of you get inside and close the door; it's not safe out here." He told them.

Desiree and her family weren't sure what could have caused Dylan to suddenly act so peculiar, but considering the tone of his voice, they sis as instructed. Dylan drew his sword and examined it closely and noticed that small sparks of electricity were being given off as well as the vibration.

Dylan held the sword up and noticed that the sparks were being given off toward the same point. Seeing this, he held the sword at his side, and now the sparks still shot at the same position; like it was pointing at something. Dylan realized this behavior was like that of a compass, which gave him an idea and he morphed his Innocence into a compass so it would point him toward whatever it was reacting to like a regular compass pointed a person toward the North Pole. As he expected, the compass needle was directed by the sparks to point in the direction of whatever it wanted him to find.

Dylan followed the direction his Innocence was pointing him and ended up in an alley that looked rather old. It was just an old part of the city no one paid attention to anymore, and used to be boarded up, but obviously the boards he rotted and broke. When Dylan lived here as a kid, he would hide back here just to be alone.

Dylan continued to the end of the alley and stopped when his Innocence compass began to spin like it was caught in an electric field. But since this wasn't a normal compass, the only reason it would be doing this was if it was right over whatever it was pointing to. Making sure no one was glancing into the alley wondering what he was doing; Dylan morphed his Innocence into a shovel and dug into the ground.

Soon enough, Dylan broke though and found what he had been lead to; and he almost couldn't believe what he saw: Innocence! His own Innocence had led him to uncover a new fragment of Innocence. If Dylan still worked for the Order, this ability would be invaluable. With it, he would be able to locate fragments immediately, making the usual every-detail sweeps of towns unnecessary.

Of course, Dylan no longer did work under the Order; so the question became: what should he do about the Innocence? As Dylan asked himself this question, Hevlaska's words suddenly echoes in his head.

_Properly nurtured- it will become a great aspect in our battle. But be it nurtured poorly, with anger, distrust, or distraught, it could prove to become a grave enemy._

The prophecy of Dylan's Innocence suddenly became crystal clear. Dylan could now find fragments of Innocence anytime he came near it with his own activated. Using this power to locate Innocence, Dylan had two choices before him. He could either protect the Innocence, or he could destroy it.

Suddenly, Dylan dropped the fragment of Innocence and stepped away from it. _Destroy it!_ Just the simple fact that thought entered his mind in the first place sent Dylan into a state of complete shock. If he had considered, even for a moment, the option of destroying Innocence, then maybe Dylan really had become an enemy of the Order.

Dylan tried to calm himself down. Not yet; he couldn't be sure of anything just yet. Destroying the Innocence may have come to mind, but so did protecting it. If he protected the Innocence, even if he didn't work under the Order anymore, he could search out new Innocence-users and lead them to the Order so that they would help them in way he no longer could. Dylan took a deep breath and picked up the Innocence fragment once again, tucking it away in his cloak.

Dylan walked back to Desiree's house and saw Laura looking out from the window, waiting for his return. When she spotted him, she shouted back into her house and then ran out the door and raced to him. "Dylan," She shouted. "Are you alright? What happened anyways?" She began shooting questions to assure nothing had happened to him.

"I'm fine Laura." Dylan answered. "But I need you to listen." He told her and led her back to her front door where the rest of her family was waiting. "There's someone I'm after, someone dangerous. If you ever meet a fat man in a suit an top hat who calls himself the 'Millennium Earl', don't listen to anything he tell you!"

Dylan made sure to stress the importance of each word as he warned them about this. After a second thinking on what Dylan was telling them, they all agreed to do just that if they ever met this 'Millennium Earl'. After that, Dylan left them and his hometown Beaune. With his Innocence's new power, Dylan had a new path set out before him. Until the day he became a true enemy of the Order, should that day come, Dylan would use his Innocence power to find fragments of Innocence and search out their users.

Though accomplishing this task was easier said than done, Dylan would not stop until he had done so. And so, he started yet another journey…

**And so, another year had passed by.**


	22. The Second Beginning

_22nd Dusk: The Second Beginning_

Perpignan, France; that was the current location of the young man named Dylan Aiken. Dylan used what money he had been able to obtain to buy a meal at a low class restaurant while he figured out what to do next. Ever since he spoke with Gwen at Dijon, he had focused on getting as far away from The Order as he possibly could.

To accomplish that, Dylan had been heading southwest toward Spain, but of course going on foot the whole way made the trip much, much longer than it could have been. And even if he did get to Spain, that didn't mean the chances of him running into members of the Black Order were zero. If Innocence ever showed up, the Exorcists would not be far behind. And there were all of the Finders, which honestly Dylan was amazed not to see much of, who if he did run into might recognize his Innocence for being just that and report him to the Order.

Basically, there were about a hundred ways for him to fail and only one way to succeed. He also had the fragments of Innocence he now carried with him. Ever since his Innocence became capable of searching out other Innocence, he had been attempting to collect them and find their accommodators.

But that part ended up just as difficult as he thought it would. Not only had Dylan only found one other fragment of Innocence in addition to the one he found in Beaune, but he had yet to find a single accommodator. But of course that made perfect sense; after all there were a couple billion people in the world, and not even a couple hundred fragments of Innocence. Finding an accommodator by just wandering was like trying to hit a moving target blindfolded. It could be done, but the chances of success were so low there was no guarantee you would get it in your lifetime.

Nonetheless, it was what Dylan had decided to do. And he would continue searching until the prophecy of his Innocence came true; one way, or the other. "Check," Dylan said to the waiter, who nodded and went to get his check for the meal.

Once he paid for the meal, Dylan left the restaurant while still baring his Innocence as a sword on his waist. He looked around at the people around him as he walked past, waiting for an Akuma in disguise to take notice and attack him. For a while he just got the usual uncomfortable stares from people who were nervous because of his holding a sword like he was ready to kill them.

Suddenly, one man Dylan was just about to pass reached out and grabbed his shirt collar, and in response he quickly took his sword and put it at the man's neck, who was drooling. It was obvious to Dylan this man was an Akuma, but those looking on would see a man about to slit another's throat. "Reveal yourself, Akuma." Dylan stated.

However, before the man did anything, three other people walked around and surrounded Dylan on all sides. At that time, all four of them cut open their human skins and showed their level 1 Akuma forms. However, that was all; in the next instant Dylan raised his Innocence and the four Akuma spontaneously combusted.

That was the current strength of Dylan's Innocence. Once the Akuma had shown their true forms he shot out the smallest pieces of his weapon at each Akuma using its static electricity to make them fly the speed of lightning. Once those pieces struck the Akuma, he had them all explode by changing their densities to mimic explosive powder. After that, he put his blade back at his waist and explained what just happened to the practically traumatized onlookers and gathered the usual supply of food for his leave.

After that, Dylan left Perpignan and continued south. The next city he would stop in was Le Boulou, and it would be his last major stop before arriving in Spain. Once he arrived in Spain, he would simply continue to wander just like before; killing Akuma and searching for Innocence and their accommodators.

Dylan continued traveling until the sun had completely set and night had fallen. At that point he deactivated his Innocence and lied down on the ground, looking up at the stars. Sighing, Dylan reached into his coat and pulled out the two pieces of Innocence he had collected and gazed upon them.

In the Order, the Generals were responsible for taking Innocence and finding their accommodators, and that was how Cloud had originally found him all those years ago. For the first time since then, Dylan thought back to all the huge events that had affected and changed his life up until this point.

His family was killed by an Akuma, but he was saved by Cloud Nine. He joined the Order and met Tina, Gwen, and Sol, as well as many others. There was the prophecy of his Innocence that shaped his nightmares which gave him the first hint of the path he was ending up on.

Because of those thoughts being shoved in his head, Dylan fled the Black Order. After that he had an encounter with the General Cross Marian, who he was just lucky enough understood his wishes and let him leave without too much prying into his reasons why he left the Order. It wasn't long after that he had his first meeting with a Noah named Tyki Mikk, from which he was lucky to have survived at all. The Noah could have very easily finished him off then and there, but had left him alive on a whim, thinking he was too strong for the Earl not to know about.

It was after this meeting his nightmare became a daydream, changing to include all the people he had strong feelings for. Dylan had never even begun to understand what anything within his visions meant, although for the last 6 months, he hadn't seen the daydream at all, which he was unsure if it was a good thing or bad.

Dylan reencountered Tina and Gwen while they were searching for Innocence in the area. Even after avoiding them, Gwen had found him again and somehow convinced him to hear her out, although the conversation had ended up doing little good for either of them. Even after that, he had yet another encounter with his past by ending up in his birth home and meeting Laura and her family. At that time, his Innocence developed the ability to search out fragments of Innocence.

It was then he decided to look for accommodators and lead them to the Black Order; and that was the life the man named Dylan Aiken was now living. Finally, Dylan sighed and put the pieces of Innocence back in his coat and fell asleep.

Dylan knew that one day it would come. Sooner or later, his prophecy would have to be realized one way or the other. But until that happened, Dylan had sworn to fight against the Millennium Earl with all his power.

That night, Dylan dreamed. But that was all it was, a dream. It was not like his nightmare or daydream that had been warning lights of his fall. This was just a dream. He dreamt he was back in the Order, it was lunch time and he was sitting with Tina, Gwen and Sol with a smile on his face. Lenalee passed by with Komui, and they greeted each one of them before continuing on their way.

Suman Dark came by and requested to sit down. Finally, Kanda came by and Dylan greeted him, but he just turned his head away and continued walking. It was a pleasant dream of happy days. If his life could have stayed like that forever, it would have been the best life Dylan could have asked for.

And maybe one day, he might have that life he longed for. If his prophecy came true and became a great asset to the Order, he would return in a heartbeat. There, he would be able to live until his dying day with the people he loved. It was the greatest desire of Dylan, but he had only now realized that wish.

As Dylan woke up from his dream, he knew he was fighting for that life. If he continued fighting now, one day he would be able to go back and look those people in the eye with pride. He fought now for the chance to make that dream a reality.

With that thought, Dylan picked up his Innocence and continued on his way to Le Boulou.


	23. The Road Ahead

_23rd Dusk: The Road Ahead_

Another day, another city. A few more weeks had gone by and Dylan had double-timed his journey south and had now arrived in the small city of Sils, Spain. Currently, he was facing off with two level 2 Akuma and a level 1 that had attacked him when they noticed his Innocence.

The people who had been in the area at the time ran for cover in fear of the monsters. The level 1 fired its guns, and Dylan morphed his innocence into a wall to protect himself, and then shot off a piece of his Innocence using electricity and had it explode on contact with it. The level 2's were distracted by this for just a second, but that was all it took. Dylan morphed his Innocence into a mace and slammed it down on the ape-like Akuma's head, and then immediately morphed the end of the mace handle into a sword blade and extended it into the bear-like Akuma's head, and then cut it in two.

Dylan morphed his Innocence back into a sword with all three Akuma defeated and looked around at the people who were standing back up with the danger past. Dylan explained what the monsters were and they thanked him.

One man came up to him and asked, "Is there anything I can do for you to show you my thanks?" He asked.

Dylan looked at the sun, it was already setting, so if he were to leave now, he wouldn't get very far before it was too dark to travel. "I'll need a place to stay for the night. Tomorrow I'll be leaving, so I'll also need some food for the trip."

"You're leaving tomorrow?" The man asked. "Where are you heading?"

Dylan thought about where he should head next. The best decision would be to head to a major city. The more packed an area, the more likely it was there would be Akuma hiding amongst them. "I'm sure I'll make a few stops along the way, but I'll be heading to Barcelona next." He answered finally.

"Well, actually my kids and I are heading to Barcelona tomorrow as well. If you'd like, I could give you a ride up there." The man told Dylan, who then looked down and saw a young girl and boy who must have been the man's children at his feet, looking up at him in their child awe like they were meeting a celebrity.

The offer for a ride to Barcelona was certainly tempting. It would cut his arrival time from days long to just hours long. But Dylan knew that if anyone close to him had an increased risk of being killed by an Akuma if one were to attack him when they noticed his Innocence.

"No, it's better I go there on foot by myself." Dylan declined.

"Are you sure?" The man asked.

"I'm sure."

"Well, if you're sure I won't force you. You said you needed a place to stay for the night? I'll pay for your stay at the Inn I'm in. My name's Ivan."

"Dylan, thank you for your hospitality."

"Not at all, it's the least I can do. Right you two?" Ivan said and looked down at his children, who just nodded like they were only half paying attention.

Once at the Inn with his room paid for by Ivan, Dylan immediately crashed onto the bed. It had been awhile since he stayed the night in a bed, so it felt like he was on a cloud. Almost instantly, Dylan was asleep.

But it was not a good sleep. For the first time in he didn't even know how long anymore, Dylan had the dream that he originally had about his Innocence's prophecy. He was back in the white room with his Innocence as a sword stabbed into the ground in front of him.

However, neither General Cloud nor The Earl were beside him, for the first time, he was completely alone. But with no one around, Dylan had nothing with which to point him toward the next part of the dream other than his Innocence. But was Dylan supposed to take the sword before the dream progressed, or was he supposed to wait for something to happen on its own?

Dylan soon got his answer; his Innocence split into two blades that moved to either side of him. It represented his two choices; to betray or not betray The Order. That much had been obvious to Dylan since the beginning, but what didn't make sense was what The Earl previously in his dream would say. _"Go ahead and take it. If you know which one is yours?"_ At the time The Earl would say this and that was when his Innocence would become two separate swords, with General Cloud continually telling him not to be fooled.

This suggested that there was a trick at work here. There was something about the two swords that was not real. But what exactly that was was impossible for Dylan to figure out. No matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't figure out which sword was supposed to be the deception.

This was when something new happened. The two swords at his sides began to glow, one shined with its natural light it always gave off, only stronger; but the other one glowed with an unnatural dark light. Following this, words began to inscribe themselves onto the two swords.

Dylan looked closely and read the words, on the sword with dark light, the word 'DESTRUCTION' was carved into the blade; and on the sword that glowed a pure light, the word 'protection' was inscribed. Before, Dylan may not have understood what these words were referring to; but he knew now that these words were referring to the fragments of Innocence he carried. The choice was to protect or destroy The Order's chances of victory in this war with the Millennium Earl.

Dylan had an option to fight against the very purpose his Innocence was crafted to fulfill. But until the time he felt so strongly compelled to follow that path of destruction, Dylan swore that he would protect. Because of his conviction in this matter, Dylan reached out his hand for the sword marked 'protect'. However, before he touched to sword, Dylan woke up.

Dylan opened his eyes and found it was already morning, even though it felt like he was only been asleep for a few minutes. Dylan sat in the bed for a while longer until he heard a knock at his door. "Come in," He said.

The door opened and Ivan walked in. "Good morning Dylan, did I wake you?"

"No, I just woke up a few minutes ago."

"Ah well…" Ivan started, but he sounded uneasy about what he was trying to say. "Do you mind if I talk to you about something over breakfast?" He asked as if he felt he wasn't supposed to.

"Alright," Dylan answered, and stood, grabbing his Innocence as he stood up.

Of course the Innocence had deactivated when he slept, but since Ivan already saw its shape-shifting ability when he fought the Akuma yesterday, so he activated it in front of him without any worries.

In the dining hall of the Inn, Ivan and Dylan sat down at an empty table and ordered their food. Dylan noticed Ivan's children weren't here, so he must have let them sleep in for a while. "So what was it you wanted to talk about?" Dylan asked.

"Ah yes," Ivan began. "You see, I know I said I wasn't going to force you to force you to accept my offer to take you to Barcelona but… my children have become convinced that if we leave we'll be attacked by one of those monsters again." He told Dylan.

Dylan thought about when he saw the kids yesterday. They didn't necessarily look afraid at the time, but it might have just been covered by their awe of him at the moment. It was perfectly reasonable for young children to become so afraid after experiencing something like that, so Dylan saw the problem.

"I wouldn't be asking this of you if it weren't for my children. But do you think you could please reconsider and accompany us to Barcelona." Ivan begged while clapping his hand together and bowing his head; he was obviously desperate. "Having you along will give my children some piece of mind, please."

Dylan looked at Ivan and saw how hard he was trying. He realized that realistically, there was a higher chance of an Akuma attack if he were with them, but at the same time he couldn't just walk away from people who needed his help like this.

Dylan inhaled deeply at if preparing himself for what he would say. "Very well, I'll accompany your family to Barcelona." He told Ivan.

Ivan gasped in relief like he had been holding his breath. "Oh, thank you, thank you." Ivan told Dylan.

After breakfast, Ivan went and woke his children from their sleep and told them the good news that Dylan would come with them, which gave them a sense of security after seeing how easily he handled the Akuma yesterday. Once the children had their breakfast as well, the four of them prepared to leave.

Ivan rented out a horse-driven carriage and Dylan got into the back along with the kids while Ivan directed the horses at the front. Dylan sat at the end of the carriage with his Innocence leaning on his shoulder. "Hey, mister" One of the children, Sara, spoke to Dylan.

Since Dylan still thought it was more dangerous for them if he were there, Dylan was half-unwillingly to look at the girl. "What is it?" He asked her.

"Will those monsters show up again in Barcelona?" She asked with a worried expression.

Dylan sighed; of course she was worried, she had every right to be after witnessing that Akuma attack. "Well, that's what I'm going there to find out." He told her. "But don't worry, if they do show up, I promise I'll take care of them." He told her, patting her on the head to comfort her.

Sara seemed to lighten up with Dylan's reassurance, and so she sat down next to Dylan and hugged him. "Thank you," She said.

Dylan breathed a passive laugh and put his arm around her. "You're pretty good with kids." Ivan stated, looking back at them for a second.

Dylan looked at Sara with this comment and thought about his younger sister. "I suppose," He said, purposefully not bringing his family up to avoid the conversation that would certainly follow if he did.

Ivan's son, Lucas, came over and looked at his sister for some reason. "Dad, she fell asleep." He stated, sounding surprised.

"Really?" Ivan asked and looked back at her. "Well I'll be, that girl never wants to sleep." He said. Dylan looked at Sara again and saw she really had fallen asleep against him. "I take it back; you're really good with kids."

"I guess so." Dylan stated then patted Sara's head while she slept against him while looking out the carriage and thinking about what to do in Barcelona.


	24. Battle of Barcelona: Commence

_24th Dusk: Battle of Barcelona: Commence_

Barcelona. Dylan had arrived in this city with Ivan and his children when it was nearing sundown. Ivan had asked if he could buy Dylan dinner again, but he had already done more than enough, and Dylan declined, setting off on his own again. He had gotten his own meal and then continued walking around Barcelona with his Innocence activated.

As he went down the streets, he looked at each person as they past, giving each one suspicion of being an Akuma. However, so far, nothing had happened. It was a big enough city, so getting an Akuma to attack him really shouldn't be taking this long.

He started to wonder if he should be getting on his way, but then he spotted something amid the crowd just before crossing an intersection. He saw three people walk past him going through the intersection on the street that he knew.

Tina Spark, Gwen Frere, and Sol Galen; the three apprentices of General Cloud Nine as Dylan used to be. Seeing them, he completely froze and watched as they walked through the crowd, which was probably the only reason they hadn't noticed him, even if they hadn't been paying attention to the people around them at the time

"We'll rest here for the night, that way we can finally meet up with General Cross tomorrow so long as she hasn't moved around too much." Gwen said to the Tina and Sol as they continued to walk through.

(Meet up with the General?) Dylan thought to himself. In all the time he had spent at The Order, he had never heard anything about the General's ever having others with them, so the idea that all three of them were now attempting to meet up with General Cloud was very unusual.

At that time, the three Exorcists stopped walking and Gwen appeared to be contemplating something. "Come to think of it, the Tiedoll Unit supposed to be passing through Barcelona as well. Maybe if we organized everything, we could have our two units meet up after contacting the Generals to have a larger force to defend them with."

Dylan was suddenly becoming very concerned in what was going on inside the Order right now. Not only were they attempting to reach the Generals, but they were being sent in order to _guard _them. But what on earth could present such a great threat that the Generals needed protective detail.

"Yeah, that might work out." Sol said in response to Gwen's question about the two units meeting up. "Who were the members of the Tiedoll Unit again?"

Gwen looked through something she had in her hands, probably documents explaining their mission, and answered. "Um, that would be… Daisya Barry, Marie Noise, and… Kanda Yu."

Dylan help back a shocked gasp from giving himself away as he heard Gwen say those names. Not only were there 6 Exorcists that were all going to be in Barcelona at the same time as him, but out of them, he knew more than half of them from his time in the Order. Moreover, one of them was Kanda.

If it were just those three, Dylan might have been able to convince them not to take him back to the Order; but Kanda was a different story. Even from the little he actually knew about him, Dylan knew he would not simply let him go. Kanda would sooner kill Dylan and drag his corpse back than let him go without a fight; or at least that was the kind of impression that person had always given off.

And if that still wasn't enough, according to what Gwen was saying, two Generals, one of them being his own mentor Cloud Nine, were somewhere near the city. This setting, for him, seemed almost too perfectly organized to have been mere coincidence. It was if someone or something had manipulated them all into crossing paths here in this place at this time.

"Kanda, huh? We could definitely do with that guy's help." Tina stated, looking over at whatever documents Gwen had in her hands.

"They should probably be arriving here tomorrow morning. We can contact them using the golems once they come within range, so let's just wait until then, and after that we can set a meeting place for after we find the Generals."

Dylan still couldn't fathom what the Generals needed protection from, but he realized that if he stood around too much longer, they might turn around and notice him. As such, he continued to walk through with the crowd of people.

"Well, we'd best find a place to stay for the night." Gwen stated, and then the three of them began moving again.

As they did, one of the people who did not realize they were about to start moving again accidentally bumped into Tina's shoulder, causing her to be turned half around. "Oh, sorry about-" She told the person she bumped into, but then stopped when her eyes drifted across a certain person walking through the crowd.

She didn't get a good look at the person, and he was gone before she could confirm or deny what she was thinking. "Tina, what's wrong?" Sol asked, noticing that she had suddenly stopped.

Still wondering if it could have really been what she thought, it took Tina a moment to respond. "Nothing… I'm sure it was just my imagination." She said, and then turned and walked with them again. After all, the time she and Gwen ran into Dylan before was purely luck, there was no way they would get that lucky twice.

Dylan was in a horrible position and realized it all too well. The sun would soon begin to set and he'd be unable to travel until tomorrow. Worse, if he wasn't careful he could run into Tina, Gwen, and Sol again or even Kanda's group once they arrived. And apparently two of the Generals were somewhere close to Barcelona s well; even if Dylan did leave Barcelona, there was no guarantee he wouldn't end up running into one of them, and that would be the worst situation he could get into.

The best course of actions Dylan could see to get out of this was to avoid the Exorcists looking for the Generals until tomorrow and confirm the directions they were heading out in, that way he could make plans to head in a different direction and avoid them all.

But of course that was easier said than done, it would require being close to them while remaining unseen, and if he were seen there'd be little chance of escape left for him. Also, if he wanted to make sure he wasn't found by them, he couldn't have the Akuma jumping out at him if they saw his Innocence. Thinking that, Dylan continued walking down the street with his Innocence hidden behind the brown cloak he wore over his clothes so even if he did walk past an Akuma it wouldn't attack him out of nowhere.

"Make way!" Someone suddenly shouted and the people on the streets began to move to the sides to allow a large group of people run through.

When they past Dylan, he realized they were all Finders. None of them would recognize him, but the fact that so many of them were here and that they appeared to be in a rush made what they were here for suspicious.

Once the group past, one of the Finders held back to inform everyone what was happening. "People of Barcelona, please do not panic. We have confirmed that a large force of Akuma are heading this way as we speak." The Finder continued, but Dylan took a step back with surprise and stopped listening.

A force of Akuma was being sent to Barcelona? Not only that, but one so huge that it called for this many Finders to be sent here to protect the city when there were already three Exorcists here as well as three more on their way. The number of Akuma must have been something staggering to call for all of this.

"The Akuma will be here by nightfall, we must ask that everyone return to their homes and find a safe place to hide until this matter can be resolved." The Finder told everyone, and everyone began to rustle about to get to their homes. Barcelona was a huge city, so there were probably plenty more Finders scattered all across telling everyone else the same thing.

But now Dylan had even less of a clue what he needed to do. He could hide out until the Exorcists took care of all the Akuma and leave after the fact; but Dylan knew he would never be able to do that. Dylan knew in his gut that he wouldn't be able to sit on the sidelines while an entire city was raided by Akuma; he would be compelled to help fight them. The only problem with that was that it meant he would be giving himself away to the Order; the chances he could escape afterward were very slim if he helped out.

There was a choice in front of Dylan that he would be forced to make. He just had to hope the outcome wouldn't end up being something he would regret.

Since they were staying in Barcelona for the night, Gwen, Tina, and Sol were having dinner in a restaurant. But before they even got their meals, the doors to the restaurant burst open and Finders came in.

"Exorcists!" A Finder shouted out when he spotted The Order uniforms. He rushed over to them while another Finder went through the same speech given to Dylan and the other people of Barcelona. "Exorcists, we have a serious problem on our hands!" he said, and then continued to tell them of the impending Akuma attack.

"You've got to be kidding, why are so many Akuma deliberately being sent here?" Gwen questioned. She couldn't believe it were true, but she knew that the threat was very real.

"You are the only ones that can fight the Akuma; we need you to keep Barcelona safe." The Finder said, stating the obvious as they stood there in dismay.

"We understand, we'll stand by and wait for the Akuma to come." Gwen told the Finder, and then the three Exorcists straightened up and left the restaurant to prepare for the incoming battle.

Dylan walked through Barcelona with the flow of people to avoid catching the suspicion of the Finders. Even if he was eventually found by the Order because of this, he was going to try and hide for as long as possible.

He looked at the position of the sun for a guesstimate of when the Akuma would arrive. The Finders had said they would come around nightfall, and that was only a few hours away. By that time, the only people out on the streets would be the Finders and the Exorcists. It would be nearly impossible to avoid all the Finders that had come, but if he made sure no one got a good look at him by never sticking around one place for long, they should think he was just one of the Exorcists.

All that left was avoiding the Exorcists themselves, who would also be going around the whole of Barcelona fighting the Akuma. But if he paid enough attention to the Akumas' deaths, he would be able to realize when one of them were coming too close and head in a different direction.

Dylan knew that no matter how hard he calculated everything, there was still a chance he would be found. But fighting the Akuma was more important. In his dream last night he had reached his hand out for the sword with the word 'protect', if he truly intended to follow that path, there was no way he could just turn his back on this city and run. Whatever happened tonight, he would deal with it when it came.

The sun was now almost set now and all the citizen of Barcelona had made it to their houses and hid deep inside and prayed that they would see the next sunrise. Most of the Finders had moved to the perimeter of Barcelona where the Akuma would be coming from, intending to somehow slow their entrance to the city so the Exorcist wouldn't have to worry about as many all at once and would have it easier.

Dylan stayed more into the center of the city where the Finders were less in number and he could hide out without them finding him until the Akuma showed up. Meanwhile, Tina, Gwen and Sol were on the rooftops, watching and waiting for the Akuma to come.

"But why here?" Gwen muttered to herself without realizing she had said it out loud.

"What's that, Gwen?" Sol asked, overhearing her and surprising her.

"Oh, I can't figure out why so many Akuma would be coming to Barcelona all of a sudden. You'd think they knew we were here." She said, and with that being said, it dawned on the other two just how strange it was.

There had never been a time throughout all their time in the Order that something like this had happened. There had never been a time that Akuma had flocked to a single location. If this was happening, there had to be some kind of cause.

And at the moment, the only 'cause' to be found was that they were there. "Once the Tiedoll Unit arrives, there will be six Exorcists in one place; eight if count the Generals that are close by."

"But how could they have known we were here?" Tina asked.

"That's the trouble; they shouldn't have known." Gwen answered. "The Noah are hunting down the Generals to search for the Heart, but that doesn't mean they know their exact locations, so why here?"

Even though she asked, none of them could come up with an answer to that question. This instance was truly an anomaly among all events that have happened in their entire careers as Exorcists. Akuma had no way to identify an Exorcist other than their Innocence and the uniforms, so the ones in the direct area could take notice of them and attack. They were always going back and forth between missions and the Headquarters, so unless they were heavily injured and had to stay in one place in order to recover from their injuries, they almost never stayed in an area long enough to be pinpointed; and that most certainly had not been the case here, since they had only arrived today.

There was absolutely no logic that could describe the abnormal way the Akuma were behaving. The only reason they would have shown up like this was if they had known they were going to be here at this time on this day.

And the only way they could have known something like that was… "Inside information?" Sol put the idea out there because it was the only thing he could come up with. Tina and Gwen were surprised, but it truly seemed like the only option. "Have the Noah somehow gotten their hands on inside information of the Black Order?"

"If that's true, we need to let Headquarters know about that possibility as soon as we can." Gwen said. "I can feel the winds of change blowing against us. Pretty soon, we're going to be at war."

As Gwen muttered the foreboding words, the sun fully set on Barcelona. The Akuma would be arriving any time now, and then the battle would begin.

And then they were upon them. The storm of Akuma had been so great Dylan couldn't believe his eyes for a moment. Hundreds of Level 1's and dozens of Level 2's attacking all together on the city of Barcelona. Even with the help of the amazing force of Finder's using Talismans to keep the Akuma at bay for a while to give the Exorcist's some time, it wasn't enough to stop their advance into the city completely.

Tina, Sol, and Gwen stuck together and utilized Tina's Tuning Fork to keep Akuma at bay while the other two destroyed them. Of course, there was a limit to how long they could do that. No matter how hard they avoided it, Tina's Tuning Fork's power was the most draining thing she could use against the Akuma. After a while, her Innocence simply wouldn't be able to keep it up. And it definitely wouldn't hold up through the entire wave of Akuma.

Meanwhile, Dylan was fighting on his own while attempting to avoid being found by his former comrades. A number of level 1 Akuma were circling him and getting ready to fire their guns. But the number did not matter to Dylan. He could take on even this crowd of Akuma on his own with the level his Innocence had managed to reach.

Dylan pulled his sword to his side and then swung it in a complete circle around him while using an electric current to shot off 20 bullet sized pieces of his Innocence in all directions. In an instant, 20 Akuma exploded at once, but of course there were plenty more there.

The remaining Akuma fired their guns at Dylan, but that did not mean he would allow himself to be hit. He morphed his Innocence into a dome that stuck into the ground in order to defend himself from the barrage of bullets. At the same time, he used his remote control of the bullets he had shot off to move them around in the air. Their movement was random of course, since he could not see the battle through his metal defense.

And the defense was also not absolute, given enough wear and tear by the Akuma's attacks, it would break. He heard explosions that proved his bullets were striking the surrounding Akuma, but he still had no idea how long his defense could last.

But then, the shower of bullets stopped. Whether because the Akuma had stopped to check if they had hit their target or because Dylan had actually managed to kill them all he didn't know; but he wasn't going to forsake that time he had been given.

In a second, he morphed his Innocence into a shield on his arm and sprinted forward in case the bullet's hail returned. As he feared, more Akuma began firing again, but they missed Dylan thanks to his dash. He looked around and began controlling the mid-flight bullets with more accuracy as he ran, killing Akuma faster.

But the bullets shot by the Akuma were faster than him, if all he did was run in a straight line, they would catch him before long. Dylan morphed his Innocence back to a sword and then stabbed the tip into the ground. He jumped off his feet and then extended the length of his sword's blade to hurl him into the air. After that, he pulled his blade from the ground and span his body in mid air, his extended sword cutting into the circle of Akuma around him and ending the bullet rain.

He returned his bullets to his Innocence's main body and continued to run through the streets toward more Akuma. The number of Akuma he had just destroyed could be considered significant only until you compared it to the number still alive and how long it would take to destroy them all.

The numbers truly was the biggest threat at the moment, even against level 1's, a General would have trouble keeping up after they exceeded a certain number. The trick was to attack constantly and never stop moving.

Even a moment's hesitation could result in being scratched by an Akuma bullet, which was fatal due to the Akuma blood virus. Being knocked around by a level 2's body was different because they were not injecting their poison into their victims with even a touch, but a level 1's only weapon was its gun, you could not let yourself be hit.

Tina, Sol, and Gwen fought the Akuma as well. In the distance, they saw the explosion of many Akuma that was not caused by them, but did not stop to look back and continued fighting with the ones in front of them.

But as they fought, Sol raised a question to the others. "Is that the Tiedoll Unit? I can't seem to contact them with the golem."

"The golems have a range of 10 kilometers." Gwen noted to answer Sol while jumping and punching and Akuma with her Innocence. "If we can't reach them from here, something must have happened to their golems. Either their turned off or were destroyed during their fighting."

"Should we head over and regroup with them?" Tina asked as she stuck her Innocence against her bracelet to use the Tuning Fork to stop the Akuma in their tracks again.

"The more people we have to cover each others' backs the better off we'll be." Gwen stated. "We'll clear a route over to them and work together. That's the best course of action."

"Alright, then we'd best get moving." Sol said and used his giant fists to crush a pair of Akuma.

At the next sound of Tina's Tuning Fork, Cloud's apprentices changed their course and began heading for Dylan without realizing it was him.

Dylan suddenly noticed that the carnage he had noticed in the distance that must have been Gwen and the others was suddenly moving toward him. He also noticed that the change in their course was too acute to have been coincidence. He realized they must have noticed him and probably believed he was Kanda's squad, but that meant they were heading deliberately toward him.

He had planned to keep out of their way to avoid being caught, but if they were deliberately heading for him, it would not be that easy. They would realize something was wrong if all he did was head away from them, and that would only increase the chances of him getting caught. It was likely even more impossible for Dylan to avoid being found by them now, but as he had decided before: He would deal with it when it came.

Thinking that, Dylan continued to charge through the Akuma, and just had to hope that he would be able to get himself out of the corner he had squeezed himself into.


	25. Battle of Barcelona: The Next Level

_25th Dusk: Battle of Barcelona: The Next Level_

Dylan hid behind some rubble for a moment and tried to catch his breath. Fighting the Akuma non-stop when there was such a huge number was more than exhausting, but he couldn't quit now.

He noticed the explosions caused by Tina, Gwen, and Sol getting closer and closer to his position. He had attempted to stay away from them, but sooner or later they would catch him. For the moment he ignored that fact and slowed his breathing, getting his heart rate to steady.

Once he had, he wiped some sweat off his forehead and sprinted out from behind his cover. The Akuma in the vicinity did not notice him immediately. Thanks to that, Dylan was able to swing his Innocence and shot off pieces at a number of the Akuma before they even had a chance to shot back at him.

Naturally, that tipped the Akuma around the ones that had been destroyed to his location; as well as the Exorcists again. But Dylan didn't think about any of that and simply charged ahead, attacking more and more Akuma.

Seeing the explosions they thought was the Tiedoll Unit, Tina, Gwen, and Sol hastened their approach. However, as Dylan had feared, the three Exorcists noticed something was off. The Tiedoll Unit would have definitely noticed them heading in their direction, so they should have at least been staying in the same place if not heading over toward them as well.

But instead, they were heading as if to deliberately keep them from meeting up with them. There was no reason they could think of for them to do that, and even now the Akuma on this end of Barcelona were beginning to thin, it would be more efficient to start heading in the opposite direction.

At that time, something unexpected happened. On the other end of the city where the Akuma's numbers were larger, some of the Akuma were suddenly killed off by something. Noticing it, the three Exorcists almost stopped running forward.

"What the- but the Tiedoll Unit is ahead of us right?" Tina asked as she stopped the Akuma around her with the Tuning Fork.

"Could it be one of the Generals?" Sol wondered, as both General Tiedoll and General Cloud were supposed to have been near Barcelona. "Maybe they heard about the Akuma attack and came to help?"

However, that idea was soon completely disproved. The explosions that had occurred at the other end of Barcelona suddenly diverged and split off if three different directions, even if both General's had shown up, that would have been impossible.

They also took notice to how the Akuma were being destroyed. In one direction the Akuma were being cut to pieces by something unseen. In another something shined and pierced a line of Akuma which was followed by their deaths. And in the last direction they saw a speck of a person jump into the air and then unleash a ghostly silver horde of something on a number of Akuma.

They all recognized Kanda's First Illusion. And in addition, Sol had once teamed up with Daisya Barry, and he also recognized his Charity Bell as it had soared through the sky as well as Tina and Gwen who had once partnered with Noise Marie, and realized the third path of Akuma's death had been caused by him.

But if that was the Tiedoll Unit, then who exactly was causing the carnage in front of them? That one couldn't have possibly been one of the Generals; they were trying to meet up with the other Exorcists so there was no reason for them heading away from them.

"So… who is that? Gwen asked out loud.

Tina gave the question some thought, and then suddenly her mind picked out an image she had seen earlier that day as if it were trying to supply her with an answer. At one point in the day, she had taken notice of a man walking through Barcelona, but had not gotten a good look at him.

However, when she had taken notice of the person, she could have sworn for that second that it was Dylan. Did this mean that had actually been him in the city? Did that mean he was really so close to her again, fighting the Akuma in Barcelona?

The idea made her heart skip a beat, and almost without realizing it, she picked up her pace heading toward the person ahead that was destroying Akuma. She almost forgot the Akuma around her and the others for a moment until one of them came up in front of her, forcing her to stop in her tracks as it prepared to fire its guns.

As an instinct, Tina struck her Innocence against her bracelet to send out the high pitch tone that froze the Akuma in its tracks. Once she had, she stabbed the Akuma's face and destroyed it, continuing forward immediately with the hope in her heart that it might actually be Dylan.

Noticing her sudden actions, Gwen and Sol quickened their pace in order to keep up. "Hey Tina, what's wrong?" Sol asked, as he saw to preamble to her strange actions.

But Tina paid her comrades no mind anymore, her mind had completely blocked off everything else except the range of dying Akuma ahead of her. _Please, be there Dylan… _Tina prayed silently as she made her way forward, past the Akuma.

Dylan had stopped paying attention to how close Gwen, Tina, and Sol were coming to him. It was too obvious to him that they would catch up to him even if he were to manage avoiding them until all the Akuma were destroyed. He had also taken notice that more Akuma had begun dying on the far end of the city, meaning Kanda's group had arrived. Even if Gwen and the others had thought he was that group, they would now imply want to figure out who he was since it was now plainly obvious he wasn't.

Either way, he continued to kill the Akuma around him. But suddenly something else caught Dylan's attention. He heard screams; and a lot of them.

Dylan was getting close to the wall surrounding Barcelona where the Finders had been stationed, meaning those screams of agony were coming from the Finders as their defenses were being cut down by the Akuma's numbers and killed.

The sound terrified Dylan; and more importantly, it provoked him. He began to race toward the sound of the screams in order to protect anyone still alive. Cutting his way through any Akuma in his way, he arrived relatively quickly near the wall surrounding Barcelona and saw a number of Finders. Most of them were dead, having been decayed into dust by the Akuma blood virus from the Level 1's bullets.

However, there were some Finders wounded but still alive for one of two reasons. Either they had only been caught in the shockwaves of the bullets striking the ground instead of the bullets themselves… or they had been attacked by the single Level 2 Akuma that was in front of him.

The Level 2 was a metal cylinder that had a number of big long blades coming out of the sides and spinning in circles on its edges to keep it levitated in mid-air. Taking notice of Dylan, it turned itself so that the flat end of the cylinder was facing him, were a single eyeball opened and peered at him.

"Innocence!" A voice coming from the Level 2 suddenly noted the sword in Dylan's hand. The Akuma did not appear to have a mouth, so where is voice was emanating from was a mystery, but it didn't really matter.

Dylan clenched his teeth and then swung his Innocence horizontally, but not at the Level 2. Instead, he used the electric current flowing through his blade to shot of pieces of the Innocence at the surrounding Level 1's in order to keep them from attacking anymore Finders while he dealt with the Level 2.

Because Dylan did not wear the Order's cloak, the Finder's that were still alive looked at him with surprise. But Dylan did not pay attention to them apart from making sure how many of them were still breathing.

Dylan realized immediately that close combat with this Akuma would not work. The blades that kept it airborne were spinning so rapidly that the number of blades could not be counted due them blurring together like a ceiling fan. The Akuma's weak point was obvious though. If Dylan struck it in its single eye, he would destroy it easily; but of course actually doing that would be a different story all together.

Depending on how fast it could flip itself around, the Akuma might be able to deflect Dylan's bullets even if they were coming from multiple angles. After thinking through the various scenarios for a moment, Dylan morphed his Innocence into the form of a spear and then extended it forward at the Akuma's eye.

The Akuma reacted instantly and soared upward with its spinning blades and then began to fly downward to attack Dylan. But Dylan ducked out of the way and rolled back to his feet. The Akuma crashed into the ground, which Dylan thought might stop the Akuma by causing its blades to get wedged into the ground.

However, The Akuma had only been slowed down for a second; for in the next it flew out of the dust cloud it had kicked up and charged straight for Dylan at waist level. When it came close, Dylan jumped and flipped right over it as it passed by underneath him, its one eye staring into his without discernible emotion.

Dylan landed on his feet and the Akuma quickly span itself around, raring for round two. When it did, Dylan turned around and extended his spear-tip at the Akuma's eye again, hoping to catch it off guard. But instead, the Level 2 managed to slant itself to the side and get its spinning blades get in the way, deflecting the weapon and consequently throwing Dylan off balance.

In that moment the Akuma burst forward at Dylan, moving faster than Dylan could regain his balance. However, no sooner had the Akuma began to move forward than did a strange high pitch sound fill the area.

When the noise was heard by the Akuma, it made strange noises and lost control of itself. It began to swerve like a top losing its momentum and about to fall until its blades struck the ground and kicked it into the air, sending it flying over Dylan's head and crashing into a wall.

With its blades momentarily stopped, Dylan saw that there were actually two sets of four blades that had been spinning in opposite directions. And even though he had not seen the source of the sound that had caused it, he knew exactly who it had been caused by.

"Dylan!" It was Tina calling to Dylan as she ran up from the street he had come from. "I'm so glad. It really is you!" She said with tears of joy in her eyes.

Gwen and Sol were close behind her, and Dylan noticed that their expressions were ones of shock. Sol was the only one of the three that had not seen him whatsoever since he left the Order, so it may have come to an even bigger shock to him to find him here.

But there was no time for a heart-filled reunion. The Level 2 Akuma shook off Tina's Tuning Fork's effect and got back into the air by spinning its blades at high speeds again, the blades audibly battering the air. Instead of immediately attempting to attack one of the Exorcists, the Level 2 Akuma flew high up into the air and then circled around to make a swing around attack.

"That sound is annoying, girl!" The Akuma yelled at Tina as it aimed itself at her.

But before it even got close, Tina put up her Innocence and stuck the blade of the knife against her bracelet. The Akuma muttered wordless sounds and its blades stopped spinning, allowing it to freefall toward the ground. With a clouded mind, the Akuma did its best to make itself fall toward its target anyways, but found itself shifting in the wrong direction.

But then, it took notice of something that preoccupied it in the direction it was falling. Gathering as much strength in its metallic body as it could, it forced its blades to begin rotating again and then speed down at its new target.

Tina did not have time to use her Innocence again before it attacked. But this time, its target had not been one of the Exorcists. It had crashed into something behind Dylan, who turned to see what it had hit. When he and the others looked, they became horrified.

One of the Finders who had been gravely wounded had been attempting to crawl over to one of the Talismans in order to imprison the Level 2 and give the Exorcists a hand in its defeat. However, just before his hand grabbed the Talisman's handle, the Akuma had run its huge blade straight through his gut, and he writhed in pain, unable to grasp the tool that might have lead to victory against it.

From the attack, the Finder went limp and died. Dylan and the others looked at the scene with dismay, but then, the Level 2 began to chuckle. "Hee hee hee, hee hee hee ha ha ha ha ha haaaaa! I did it." It muttered in a low voice. "I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it…" It continued on, repeating those three words with ecstasy.

What it was laughing about and claiming it had 'done' was a mystery, but that was probably the furthest thing from anyone's mind at the moment. In sorrow and anger, both Dylan and Tina ran forward to try and seize an opportunity where the Akuma was stationary to strike and kill it while it continued to state it had done something.

Together, the two of them drew back their weapons and stabbed forward at its eye. However, just before their weapons cut into the Akuma, something they had not seen coming stopped them.

From inside the Level 2's eye, a pair of long arm stretched out as if emerging from a cocoon and grabbed the Exorcists' weapons without being cut. Once they had, the rest of the mysterious beings body came out from the Level 2's eye.

The new beast had a humanoid form and was covered in grey armor. Keeping its grip on Dylan's and Tina's Innocence, it drew its face close to theirs and muttered two words into their ears. "I've… evolved." It told them.

Hearing those two words crushed a large amount of the hope in the two of Innocence wielders. Their eyes widened in shock upon the realization and then were thrown by the Level**3**Akuma into the walls of buildings behind them.

Tina hit her head hard against the stone wall and fell limp on the ground, blood running from her head. "Tina!" Gwen shouted to her friend.

"Dylan!" Sol shouted over to Dylan whom he had not seen in many years, worried about him as he also crashed into a wall.

However, Dylan had gotten lucky and his head had not been the first thing to strike the wall. So though he was still in great pain, he had not been knocked unconscious.

As he began to stand back up, Gwen and Sol looked back at the Level 3 Akuma and charged it. They both swung their fists back and prepared to crush the Akuma with their Innocence. However, when they threw their fists forward, the Akuma reacted by pushing himself backward with his feet and then landed against the wall that surrounded Barcelona. "Here I come." The Level 3 warned them, and then kicked off the wall at an amazing speed.

When it got back in front of Gwen and Sol, it shifted its lefts up to their faces and smashed the soles of its feet into their heads, throwing them far back into the street. The Level 3 crouched when it landed and cackled at them. As it did though, Dylan had come up next to it and stabbed his Innocence spear down at it with a charge of electricity flowing through it.

But the Level 3 moved to fast. It bent its body backward to avoid the spear tip and then grabbed Dylan's shirt collar and spun itself around, throwing Dylan into the street along with Gwen and Sol.

"Idiot Exorcists; you've got no idea who your messing with now." The Level 3 muttered to itself and then charged into the street, leaving the unconscious Tina for later.

The Level 3 raced through the dark street until it found Sol, Gwen, and Dylan, who had all gotten back to their feet. When they saw the Akuma coming, Dylan morphed his innocence into the form of a scythe and swung it to cleave into the Level 3's body.

However, the Level 3 once again demonstrated its expert speed and kicked up off the ground, pushing itself just over Dylan's Innocence and out of harm's way. "Sol, now!" Dylan shouted. Ignoring everything they wanted to say to each other, Dylan, Sol, and Gwen worked together in order to destroy the Level 3 Akuma that threatened them.

On Dylan's command, Sol used his arm of Innocence and grabbed the Level 3's leg, then proceeding to throwing it into the ground, where it skipped over the stone and doubled over until it managed to twist itself back to its feet and skid to a stop. Then the Level 3 looked forward and was met with Dylan's Innocence being extended toward him with Gwen holding onto it, hurtling her along at it. She punched with her Smash Brass at the Akuma, but it slid to the side and avoided the attack, afterward kicking off the ground and tackling Gwen to the ground.

Once he had, he brought up his left leg with the intention of crushing Gwen's head. However, when he brought his leg down, Dylan's Innocence suddenly came up from behind him and knocked him through a wall, just narrowly saving Gwen's life.

Quickly, Gwen scrambled to her feet and ran away from the Level 3 while Sol made the next charge. But just before he got there, the Level 3 crashed through the ceiling of the building Dylan threw it into and into the air without even a scratch on its body.

The Level 3's strength compared to that of its previous form was astounding. It was efficiently fighting all three of them without being injured. Even if they managed to land a hit, their weapons did not seem to be wounding it at all.

The Level 3 looked down at Sol and then fell down at him with its leg outstretched to crash into him. Sol drew one of his giant arms back and then threw a punch as hard as he could at the Akuma as it neared. Sol's fist collided with the Level 3's foot, but when they did, the Level 3 pushed hard against Sol and knocked him back, sending him crashing into the ground as his body tore up the concrete.

At that time Dylan used his Innocence to pole vault into the air with Gwen holding onto him. The Level 3 looked up at them as Gwen let go of Dylan and began falling down on him, throwing a punch down at it with her Innocence. "How pointless." The Akuma said as he saw this. The Akuma put up his hand and caught Gwen's Innocence in his hand without any effort. "Like I said-" It began, but was cut off when he suddenly noticed Dylan run along the ground holding himself low with his Innocence in the form of a sword.

"Die!" Dylan yelled at the Akuma and swung his sword while at the same time Gwen threw her second Smash Brass at its head.

When they did though, the Level 3 let go of Gwen's Innocence and pushed himself out of the way of their attacks. But having expected that, Dylan extended his sword toward the Akuma to attack. Then, being caught slightly off guard, the Level 3 stops himself and then catches the blade in his hand, holding it to his side.

"I told you it was pointless." The Akuma repeated to Dylan.

However, just after he said that, Dylan sent a jolt of electricity through his Innocence to the end where the Akuma was holding it, and used it to ignite the tip he modified into gunpowder to cause an explosion where the Level 3 couldn't dodge.

The blast threw the Level 3 to the side and into a wall. Its left side had been successfully burned, but it was not dead yet. The level 3 began to get up when he noticed Gwen and Sol both running up to him to punch him simultaneously. However, the Akuma flipped onto his hands and pushed himself into the air over them.

"Tch, rotten Exorcists." The Akuma cursed them under his breath before having his attention drawn to Dylan by the sound of a gunshot. When it heard the sound, it instinctively curled up in the fetal position in mid air to protect its body and head and the bullet deflected off its right arm. He looked at Dylan, though had no face with which to show emotion, and then flew down toward him.

Dylan morphed his Innocence back into a sword and readied himself to attack the Level 3 while at the same time redirecting his bullet to attack from behind. When the Akuma neared, Dylan swung his sword as hard as he could, but the Level 3 suddenly dropped into the ground in front of Dylan, making both his sword miss and his bullet instead flying past it into the ground.

Before Dylan could readjust his Innocence to attack or block, the Level 3 then jumped and kicked Dylan in the face, throwing him into the ground hard and cough up blood. Then the Level 3 noticed Gwen and Sol running up behind him and scoffed at them.

"Even though I've evolved, I guess fighting three Exorcists at once is a difficult task." The Akuma muttered aloud.

Dylan lifted himself to his knee and looked at the Level 3 with anger and then directed the bullet in the ground in front of the Akuma to fly at its head again. At the same time, Gwen and Sol punched it from behind, but then…

Just as the attacks were about to strike, a glowing purple orb of markings that made it look like a magic circle appeared around the Level 3, and all the incoming attacks were blocked completely. Gwen, Sol, and Dylan were all shocked at this sight, but before they could do anything about it, the purple orb expanded and exploded with sheer force outward, throwing Gwen and Sol backward, as well as Dylan's bullet into his shoulder, causing him to shout in pain and fall to his back, gripping the wound and accidentally dropping his Innocence.

Then the Level 3 walked up and stood over Dylan. "You certainly are a pest, Exorcist; and it's time to exterminate you." It told Dylan and held up its right hand that was then covered in those purple markings. "Die." It stated simply, and then thrust its hand at Dylan without giving him time to think.

Dylan's eyes widened, but then, a noise suddenly tore through the night and assaulted the Akuma's senses, and it froze when it heard it. Dylan didn't even need to look to confirm that Tina must have woken up and come over to help them. She stood now ahead of Sol and Gwen, who had gotten back to their feet and looked at the frozen Akuma.

Tina struck her Innocence against her bracelet again to hold the stunning effect on the Akuma's body as it slowly cocked its head to look at her. "I told you…" The Level 3 growled with irritation clear in its voice as it shifted its head. "That sound is annoying!" Its growl picked up into a shout and then, just as Tina rose her Innocence to make the sound again, the Level suddenly burst straight at her, and before she had time to move another muscle, the Level 3's Dark Matter covered hand ran completely through Tina's gut, making her as if a shish kabob on the Akuma's arm.

When this happened, Sol, Gwen, and Dylan became utterly petrified. Unable to move a muscle, they simply gapped at the scene in front of them as Tina, whose face was contorted in agony, gasped for air before the Akuma pulled its now bloody hand out of her and let her body fall to the ground.

Unable to think of anything else but that at that moment, Dylan called out her name. "TINAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"


	26. Battle of Barcelona: Truth in Despair

_26th Dusk: Battle of Barcelona: Truth in Despair_

"TINAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" As Dylan shouted out her name in horror, Tina's body hit the ground as she dropped her Innocence and it landed to the side of her.

Her eyes became lifeless and she didn't move an inch to indicate if she was still alive. And while Dylan, Gwen, and Sol were frozen in grief, the Level 3 who had carried out the act simply shook its head as if shaking off weariness.

"Now then, where was I?" He asked himself, beginning to nonchalantly walk back toward Dylan.

However, at that exact moment, Dylan's and Sol's bodies began moving as if on their own. Before even they knew what they were doing, Dylan had gotten to his feet, grabbed his Innocence and leaped at the level 3 while Sol charged from Gwen's side who was left completely traumatized. In an instant Dylan was swinging his blade at the Akuma's neck.

The Akuma reacted and put his hand up, but instead of grabbing the blade, the magic symbols appeared in front of his hand and blocked the attack. However, suddenly a second blade extended out of the side of the first and stretched to the side before curving in at the Level 3 to attack from a second angle.

But still the Akuma put up a magical shield to keep it from hitting. But then Sol reached the Level 3 and clasped his hands together and threw them down like a hammer on the Akuma's head from behind, but yet another barrier appeared and completely stopped the attack. "Bastard!" Sol yelled at the Akuma while attempting to break through his defense.

"Don't waste your breath; pitiful Exorcists." The Akuma told Sol and held up its hand.

The Level 3 swung its arm to the side and then the barrier's blocking Sol's and Dylan's attack burst, sending the two flying backward. However, neither one stayed down for long. Both of them got back to their feet immediately and charged at the Akuma yet again.

While staring out to space, Gwen fell to her knees. Her eyes drifted until they fell on Tina, and then tears began forming in her eyes. "Why?" She questioned herself in a whisper. "I… thought I was prepared for this." She said to herself, gulping down sorrow.

Gwen ignored the ongoing battle next to her as she thought. Naturally, as an Exorcist, she, Sol, and Gwen were all working while knowing there was a possibility they could be killed. Gwen had accepted that fact long ago and mentally prepared herself in the case she or an ally were to die on the battlefield. She had prepared herself for a moment just like this and yet… and yet now that it had happened, she found that her preparations had all been shattered in an instant, unable to support her will like she believed it would.

Having it actually occur in front of her was far different from imagining the possibility. It had been the most horrifying thing Gwen had ever witnessed in her entire life. Her arms began shaking and it felt like there was a clot in her throat as the tears streamed down her face.

With her breathing erratic, Gwen stumbled back to her feet and went to Tina, where she collapsed on the ground next to her. "Tina…" She breathed her friend's name and reached out with her hands, ignoring the Level 3 that was fighting Dylan and Sol, dropping her Innocence at her sides. "Tina…" She muttered again and picked up Tina's head in her hand and brought Tina close to her.

She was colder than ice. Gwen cried for Tina as she held her arms, placing their heads next to each other. "Pl…ease," But suddenly Gwen heard a single word escape From Tina's mouth.

In shock, Gwen pulled away just far enough to look into Tina's eyes, which were still lifeless, but aware. "Please… Gwen," Tina tried to make out a statement through the pain; she would obviously not survive this no matter what they did. "Gwen, please take-" Tina coughed blood as she attempted to speak. "…take Dylan back."

At Tina's request – her final request – Gwen was left speechless. It was an unselfish wish. Tina was not asking Gwen to do something that would directly improve her condition; she wanted only one thing, for Dylan to return to the Order. It was the same thing she had wanted for over four years.

All she wanted to be sure of as she died was that Dylan would return home, to the home she knew he wanted to return to. If she knew that would happen, she could die happily knowing that Dylan would be happy as he continued on. "Please…" Tina breathed the request once more.

Gwen spoke up to keep Tina from exerting anymore strength. "I promise!" She told her. "I promise I will bring Dylan back! I'll make sure of it." She swore to Tina on her own life she would fulfill her final request.

That was all Tina needed to hear. She began to slowly close her eyes as she became ready to embrace her death. "Thank you…" She whispered to Gwen, who then gently laid her down on the ground again and closed her eyes.

Gwen shut her eyes and forced her tears to stop. She gathered up her remaining will and took a deep breath. She wiped away the tears on her face and then reached down to pick up her Innocence once more, and began to stand up. Finally, she opened her eyes again with renewed determination and looked at the Level 3 as it continued to fend off the relentless pair of Sol and Dylan.

Dylan and Sol had not give the Level 3 a moment to do anything but defend against their attacks with its barriers of Dark Matter. If they had not kept it in such a locked position with their raging attacks, it probably would have taken the opportunity to take Gwen's life as well.

Dylan morphed his Innocence into a hammer with a head half the size of the Level 3 and slammed it into the Akuma, who naturally blocked with a barrier. At that moment, Sol attacked from behind it, slamming his two fists from opposite sides of the Akuma. Of course, the attack was blocked by forming a barrier around the Akuma's whole body.

Holding them there, the Level 3 spoke to itself. "Tch, if I keep fighting these ridiculous Exorcists like this, it'll take all night to finish them off…" Once it said that, it once again had its barrier burst in all directions, fluctuating for a second inward beforehand, and shoved the two Exorcists away.

Gwen's eyes narrowed as she noticed something. Why had the Akuma's barrier fluctuated inward before bursting out? She had not noticed that occurrence happen up until just now, and knew it was not a coincidence either. She watched as Dylan morphed his Innocence into a gun and shot off three rounds. All three were blocked by individual barriers in front of the Level 3, and then instantly burst to throw the bullets back at Dylan.

Dylan stopped the bullets and merged them back with his Innocence before morphing the gun into a sword before charging. The Level 3 glanced back to see Sol once more punching at its head. With another barrier, it blocked and forced him away in a second before making one more barrier in front of it to block Dylan's incoming attack and blast him away. From just watching this much, Gwen came to understand the Level 3's power.

She noticed three things: First off, the technique was not made for attack. The Level 3 obviously had enough physical strength and speed to subdue most opponents without this power, and though it had shown the capability of catching their Innocence with its bare hands, the rest of its body may not have been as resilient. It had only used its special ability to block their attacks and force them away without using it to do much in the way of direct damage.

The next thing was that he was constantly forcing them away by making the barriers burst. But that made sense; the barriers were made of Dark Matter, which Innocence was made to destroy. If he didn't force them away from it, their Innocence would likely break through it, albeit slowly, so if they were to attack it long enough or with enough power, they could get past the barrier.

And the third thing Gwen noticed was that although the barrier that had surrounded the Akuma had fluctuated inward before bursting, its individual shields had not acted so peculiar. She wouldn't have noticed the first time it had formed a barrier around its whole body because she had also attacked it that time, but it was likely the barrier had fluctuated then as well. If that were true, then the reason behind its fluctuation was likely to be the fact it had attacks pressing down against it from multiple angles; so as it prepared to burst, it would be more vulnerable to attacks.

Unless Gwen missed her mark, this meant they could keep the Level 3 from bursting its barrier if they attacked it from different angles and pushed against it. Coming up with a plan, Gwen moved forward and acted.

Sol was thrown back once more by the Level 3 but caught himself and slid against the ground; when he did, Gwen past him and stood in front of him. "Smash Brass!" She shouted the name of her Innocence and swung her brass knuckles from her sides without coming very close to the Akuma.

When she did, the three spikes on the end of each knuckle shot off while connected to the main body by strings. Due to swinging them sideways, the strings came at the Level 3 from both directions, and in reaction forged a barrier that surrounded its whole body. Because of the round obstruction, Gwen's stringed spiked swirled around the whole of the barrier and then locked together on the opposite side.

This was of course exactly what she had meant to happen. Once the spikes locked together, she pulled and strengthened the grip of the strings around the Akuma's barrier and then gave Dylan an order. "Attack from above!" She told him as he was already charging toward the Akuma.

The Level 3 realized what Gwen was trying to do the instant she said that, but could not do anything about it before Dylan jumped into the air and morphed his Innocence into a hammer again. Like that, he slammed the hammer on top of the Level 3's barrier, which put pressure on it from below, and thus creating an all-round seal on the sphere of Dark Matter.

As Gwen had guessed, the Level 3 did not attempt to force their attacks away by bursting its barrier. If it tried, the barrier would give out and their attacks would connect with it, and so instead the Akuma stood its ground, blocking the attacks.

"Damn Exorcists…" The Level 3 wheezed its curse and shook despite not having the pressure directly applied to it. It could probably feel the pressure on its mind due to the barrier being made with its own reserve of Dark Matter; meaning breaking the barrier would be akin to shattering the Level 3's mind.

Dylan and Sol realized this fact as Gwen had, which made Dylan press harder from above as Sol then ran forward to deliver even more pressure against the barrier which would hopefully allow them to break past the barrier. The Level 3 saw this and growled.

However, as Sol got close, the Level 3 spoke in a dark tone. "I don't think so." He told Sol.

In that exact second, a rain of Akuma bullets suddenly came down from the sky and attacked Sol, hitting him hard and kicking up a cloud of dust to hide just how much damage had been done. In shock, Dylan and Gwen looked up to see two Level 1's floating in the air that shot the bullets; but when they did, they inadvertently let some of the pressure off the Level 3's barrier, which gave him just enough room to drop the barrier without bursting it and jump through the gap between Gwen's strings and Dylan's hammer.

They had no time to think.

The Level 3 hit a wall when it jumped away from their attacks and then pounced off of it and sped at Gwen, who had initiated the comeback, viewing her as the current highest threat. The Level 3 through its arm from the side and struck Gwen to the ground, afterward landing on the ground to stand above her.

"Gwen! Sol!" Dylan shouted his friends name in fright.

Suddenly though, a voice echoed from the dust cloud surrounding Sol. "Pride's Fist!" Sol shouted the name of his Innocence and then two white, ghost like extensions of his arms shot from the dust.

One was aimed up at the Level 1's in the air and slammed into them from the side, destroying both. The other was shot at the Level 3 to protect Gwen. The Level 3 reacted fast enough to put up a barrier at its back, but this time was forced back itself by the extending white fist and crashed into the ground away from Gwen, who immediately got back to her feet and put distance between her and it.

The white arms dissipated and Sol emerged from the dust. The Level 1's bullets had injured him badly, having his right shoulder crushed and a chuck taken out of his side, but due to his Parasitic Innocence, the Akuma's blood virus has not killed him. However, the wounds were still major and if they could not be treated soon, he might still die.

Sol breathed heavily from the pain, but fought through it in order to keep going. The Level 3 got to his feet and looked back at the Exorcists while apparently having been weakened from Sol's last attack. "Damn… EXORCISTS!" He cursed them and blitzed forward at them once more.

Gwen, Sol, and Dylan prepared themselves for its incoming assault. When it was right in front of Gwen, who had been closest to it, she punched forward to strike it, but the Akuma suddenly kicked up off the ground and jumped over her.

Its target had changed. It now viewed Sol as the highest threat and flew down to land in front of him. In the moment it landed, the Level 3 then burst forward and swung its leg from the side and struck Sol's wound from the Level 1's gun. The pain was unbearable as Sol coughed up blood and was thrown to the side into a wall.

Hurriedly, before the Akuma could do anything else, Gwen and Dylan charged at it. Gwen reached it first and punched it from the side, but her fist was caught in the Level 3's bare hand. The Level 3 raised its second hand as if to pierce through Gwen like it had Tina, but then formed a barrier behind it to block Dylan's sword it knew was coming.

Once it had done that, the Level 3 threw Gwen into Dylan and caused its barrier to burst, throwing them both backward into the ground. With them out of his way, the Level 3 turned back to Sol, who was in so much pain he could no longer stand up. In fact, the pain had apparently been so unbearable that it caused his Innocence to deactivate, leaving him utterly defenseless.

"You Exorcists are utterly annoying." The Level 3 growled, and then reached down and gripped Sol's throat, choking him. "I'll crush each and every one of you like a pesky mosquito."

"No!" Dylan shouted out his refusal as he got back to his feet yet again and shot continuous bullets from his Innocence as a gun.

But the Akuma did not budge from its spot, and instead forged a spherical barrier around it and Sol as it strengthened its grip on Sol's neck as he scratched uselessly at the Akuma's arm with his hands.

Dylan controlled his array of bullets to strike the Level 3's barrier from all around, but none of them were breaking through. The Level 3 laughed at Dylan's and Sol's pitiful attempts to stop him and strengthened his grip once more.

But then, Sol choked out three words in one last attempt to get the Akuma. "Pride's Fist, Activate!" He stretched the words out of his crushed trachea and once more activated his Innocence.

Sol's vision was becoming blurry, but he gripped the Level 3's arm with both his Innocence converted hands and instantly ripped the arm clean off the Level 3. Free from the Akuma's grip, Sol fell to the floor of the Dark Matter barrier, but it burned his back and he was still trapped in it with the Level 3. He knew he would not escape the Akuma now, what he did was merely give Gwen and Dylan a better shot at finishing it off.

Without even cursing Sol, the Level 3 threw his remaining hand, which was the same one Dylan had earlier burned with his Innocence's explosion, and cut into Sol's throat, making a wound he would surely die from in just a few seconds if not instantly, which was obvious that he had indeed with the forced deactivation of his Innocence and complete motionlessness of his body.

Gwen and Dylan felt utterly helpless as they saw it happen, and Dylan screamed in the horror. "SOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLL!" But it was too late now for yet another of his friends.

With Sol finished off, the Level 3 caused his barrier to burst and forced Dylan's bullets to shoot off in all directions. Dylan was forced to pay attention due to this and caught the bullets that came his and Gwen's way and allowed his other bullets to drop to the ground

But the second the Level 3 was clear of the bullets, he charged at the two remaining Exorcists. Even if he only had one arm now, he was still strong enough to fight them both on his own. Dylan morphed his Innocence into a shield and blocked the Level 3 as it tried to punch him.

But when the Level 3's fist struck Dylan's Innocence, it formed a barrier in front of it and had it burst, shooting Dylan's shield and himself away, and leaving Gwen on her own. But before she could even do anything the Level 3 threw his leg into Gwen's gut, knocking the air right out of her and her into the ground.

Dylan hit the ground and tried to get back to his feet as fast as he could, and when he looked forward he saw the Level 3 with his foot raised over Gwen's head, ready to crush her like a bug. Dylan stabbed his sword forward and extended the blade toward the Level 3's head futilely, knowing just what would happen when he did.

The Level 3 put a barrier to surround him and Gwen. "Do you never learn?" The Akuma asked Dylan, and then brought down his foot.

However, this time Gwen pulled her head to the side and avoided the kick by millimeters. Immediately, she then threw a punch up and shot the spikes on the end of her Innocence at the Level 3's head. The Level 3 moved its head to the side and dodged the hit, but that was not what Gwen had actually aimed for. The spikes bounced off the inside of the Dark Matter barrier at the top then near the bottom and came back to her, where she grabbed the strings with her other hand, and then tightened the strings at the Level 3's shoulder.

Both the Level 3 and Dylan instantly realized what she was doing, but neither had the time to stop her. Gwen gave one quick glance to the side to see Dylan rushing forward in a desperate attempt to stop her. She planned to do the same thing that Sol had done; sacrifice her life in the fruitless situation in order to give him, the last one of the four, the best chance he had at defeating the Level 3.

Seeing Dylan run toward her, tears formed in her eyes once more, but nonetheless, she tightened the strings further, and forced them to cut straight through the Level 3's remaining arm.

For the Akuma, time seemed to be in slow motion. It looked at its freshly severed arm as it began to spray blood and fall to the ground, and then at the Exorcist who had done it. In a pure fit of rage, it cursed Gwen at the top of its lungs. "DAMN YOUUUUUUUU!" It screamed those two words and then brought up its leg again and immediately brought it down on Gwen's throat, breaking her neck in an instant, and ending her life along with Tina and Sol's.

"GWEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNN!" Dylan shouted, but didn't stop running and found he could not take his eye off of Gwen's face as he did. As her neck was snapped in two, she turned to face Dylan. When she did, on her face were eyes filled with tears and yet, right below them… a peaceful smile.

Dylan could not begin to fathom what she was thinking as she died, but possibilities did not even cross Dylan's mind. Before he could think about it, he went into a frenzy of rage to kill the Akuma once and for all. He attacked the Level 3 who had just dropped his barrier from having his second arm cut off. The Level 3 jumped away to avoid being killed and then dropped to one knee, the pain catching up to it.

"Impossible…" It muttered to itself. It simply could not believe it had both of its arms severed so soon after evolving. The Level 3 knew it could still win, but the chances had been lowered significantly.

Earlier the Level 3 had telepathically called over two Level 1's to assist it because it knew it would have trouble on its own, but even if it called more now, most of the Level 1's were fighting three other Exorcists on the other end of Barcelona, and would not come if it called.

The Level 3 looked at Dylan and then saw his blade extending toward him once more. Instantly, it put up the full circle barrier around it to protect itself, and planned to burst the barrier to force Dylan off balance so it could deal the final blow.

However… instead of being stopped upon striking the barrier, and tip of Dylan's blade morphed and began to spread over the Level 3's barrier. In less than three seconds, the Level 3's barrier was completely held within a sphere of Dylan's Innocence; and worse, the sphere of metal began to tighten.

"No…" The Level 3 muttered as it tried to keep its barrier up. "No… no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! I will not be killed!" It shouted its wish and tried to force Dylan's Innocence away, but its power did not allow something like that to work.

Dylan's Innocence tightened and gained sharp points all around the inside of the sphere, ready to pierce the Akuma once its barrier gave out. "Do you want to know… why you lost this battle?" The Level 3 heard Dylan's voice outside the metal sphere, and though it could not see his face, the Akuma knew it was one of utter hatred even if the fact did not matter to it. "Remember this in the afterlife Akuma. You lost this battle… because you failed to kill me first!" Dylan proclaimed, and then began to severely tighten the grip of his Innocence around the Akuma's barrier.

The Level 3's barrier began to crack; it looked around as it heard and saw imminent death approaching. As the cracks spread and its barrier was just about to be crushed along with it, the Akuma gave one last cry of rage. "DAMN YOU, EXORCIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIST!" At that time, the Level 3's barrier shattered, Dylan's Innocence shrank around it, and the Akuma met its end.

After a moment with the Level 3 crushed inside, Dylan's Innocence deactivated on its own from far too much strain during the fight. The remains of the Akuma fell to the ground in front of Dylan as he fell to his hands and knees, breathing heavily. Dylan steadied his breathing and then looked around at his three friends. "Gwen…" He whispered, and knew that her face still held its soft smile though it was now turned away from him. "Sol…" He spoke another friend's name, who lay in a pool of his own blood. Finally, he moved his eyes over to the first of his friends to have been killed, the one who had put everything on the line to protect him. "Tina…"

"D-" But suddenly, a sound reverberated from Tina's direction. "Dy-lan?" Tina's voice spoke with a very pained sound, but it _was_ her voice.

"Tina!?" Dylan couldn't believe his ears, he looked at Tina more closely and saw her eyes open and look at him, though they were still lifeless.

"Dyl-an…" Tina muttered his name again, and desperately reached her hand upward as if searching for him.

Immediately, Dylan scrambled to his feet and raced over to her, grasping her hand firmly. "Tina! Tina are you-" He was about to ask if she was alright, but saw the hole in her gut again and knew she was not.

"Dylan…" Tina muttered, and tightened her grip on Dylan's hand as much as she could, though it was almost nothing. "Thank goodness…" She said. Suddenly a smile formed on her lips and tears formed in her eyes, making her very much resemble Gwen's final expression. "I'm so glad you're still alive. Dylan, listen-" She said, but was cut off by pain, but swallowed it to continue, uninterrupted by Dylan. "You have… to go back to the Order." She told him.

Dylan's head dropped slightly when Tina said this. "I- but I can't." He replied.

"You have to." Tina insisted. "You have to go back, it's your home." She told him.

"But, I might betray the Or-"

"No you won't." Tina cut in. She knew what Dylan's prophecy was, but believed with all her being it didn't matter. "I know you won't betray the Order, Dylan."

"But-"

"I know you won't." Tina cut Dylan off again. "You won't betray the Order because I know you." She said. It didn't sound like a proper reason, but that was Tina's honest belief. "Anger, distrust, distraught…" Tina suddenly listed off the aspects that were supposed to lead to Dylan's betrayal. "You feel all three of them don't you?"

That question almost stunned Dylan as he tightened his grip on Tina's hand. "Yeah, I do." He answered solemnly.

"But…" Tina began. "You don't feel that way about us, do you?" She asked a new question, and this time Dylan was stunned. "I saw it all while you fought. Your anger is directed at Akuma; you distrust your own feelings, I can tell; and you are distraught with no clue what to do. Your feelings are not at the Order, there at everything else."

Dylan could not reply. After all, how was it possible that someone other than himself could know the true depths of Dylan's heart? How could Tina have noticed all of this, when he himself hadn't even given it a thought? He thought on it all, and knew she was absolutely right.

"All you want is to protect people. You said so yourself, you told Suman that you wanted to protect everyone, and that was why you became an Exorcist."

'Protect'. The word made Dylan think of his latest dream of his Innocence, the blade that he had reached out to.

"So live it out Dylan. Live out your true wish to protect people and destroy the Akuma."

'Destroy'. Another word from his dream; and yet hearing both in that context made Dylan completely freeze.

To protect the people, he had to destroy the Akuma. "Dylan…" Tina got Dylan's attention back. Before she continued, she reached her spare hand up and touched Dylan's cheek. Her touch was icy cold, and they both knew she would not live much longer. "Promise me Dylan. If you can't live as an Exorcist for your dreams…" Suddenly, as she continued speaking, Tina put her hand behind Dylan's neck in order to pull herself up with what little strength she had left, to put her face closer to Dylan's. "… If you can't live for your dreams, then please live for mine." As she said that, she suddenly pressed her lips against Dylan's shocking him beyond words.

He had no idea Tina had felt this way, and was surprised even more because he was not sure how he felt about her. After just a second, Tina pulled herself away and slowly dropped back to the ground.

"I love you, Dylan…" Tina whispered, and then slowly, her eyes closed and the soft grip she had on Dylan's hand gave out.

She was dead.

"Tina… Tina, don't go!" Dylan pleaded, shaking Tina to try and wake a person who simply could not. Her last words shook Dylan's very being. Not only did she tell him that she loved him, but he was not even able to say for sure if he felt the same way.

Realizing with infinite sorrow she was gone, Dylan cried out at the world and buried his face in Tina's cold body. He continued like that for many minutes until his mind came to a sudden conclusion. In the instant his mind came to that single conclusion that in truth his heart had already known for years, his tears stopped.

Dylan slowly rose up his head, and in his eyes, replacing the sorrow, was completely grounded and reinforced determination. There was no more running, no more trying to figure out what was right and wrong, no more trying to avoid his reality.

Dylan Aiken came to the single conclusion: He was and Exorcist! With that one thought, Dylan grabbed the rose cross on Tina's Exorcist uniform and plucked it off, pinning it to his own shirt.

It was sentimental that Tina had been the one to set him back on the right path. And now he knew exactly what he had to do. There were still Akuma in Barcelona, and three Exorcists fighting them. He would help destroy the remaining Akuma and return to the Order with the Exorcists.

That was his goal, his purpose now. And so, with that determination and the weight of his three closest friends' deaths on his shoulders, Dylan walked around, taking up Tina's, Gwen's and Sol's Innocence's that he returned to their cube form. Then finally took his own Innocence and began to make his way toward the remaining Akuma.

Dylan Aiken repeated out loud: "I am an Exorcist!"


	27. Battle of Barcelona: The Last Laugh

_27th Dusk: Battle of Barcelona: The Last Laugh_

Dylan went up to the rooftops to survey the current situation of Barcelona. From the look of things, there were only Level 1 Akuma remaining in the city, and their numbers continued to dwindle as Kanda's group fought them off.

Dylan saw Kanda's First Illusion ability shine in the distance. Dylan now had to contemplate what the best choice of actions for him to take was. Out of the three Exorcists present in Barcelona, Kanda was the only one that Dylan knew, so in one sense it may have been more practical to go to him. However, the other Exorcists were closer to his position than Kanda was, and though he knew Kanda could take care of himself, he had no way of knowing whether or not the other two were faring as well.

Dylan looked off in one direction as he suddenly saw a few Akuma suddenly be cut into pieces by something he could not see, at least not at his distance. But then, as Dylan looked in the opposite direction, he saw something he found odd. In the direction where the last of the Exorcists would be, he saw something small and round glow while repeatedly flying back and forth between the air and the ground. Obviously, the object was Innocence; however, despite appearing as if the Exorcist using it was fighting something, Dylan saw no Akuma in the area that it could have hit.

Dylan couldn't be sure of what the Exorcist was fighting with, but whatever it was was alone and still giving the Exorcist a run for his money. Honestly, Dylan realized he was in no condition to be fighting at all anymore. Both his Innocence and his body were dangerously close to their breaking points from fighting the Level 3, and he would likely be little help to any of the Exorcists even if he were to go. But Dylan did not care about that; he had decided to help, and so that was what he was going to do.

Dylan jumped down from the rooftops and began running in the direction of the Exorcist that appeared to be having trouble against an unknown foe. As Dylan made his way in that direction, his mind drifted back to Tina, Sol, and Gwen. His biggest regret now was having ever run away from the Order. He found himself blaming himself for their deaths, believing that perhaps if he had never left, things might have turned out differently today.

Dylan also recalled how the three of them had been searching for General Cloud Nine when he first saw them. He had not learned why, but apparently the Order was sending out Exorcists as protective detail for the Generals. If there was something that posed such a great threat to the Order that it called for that kind of reaction, than it was now Dylan's duty to take the place of his friends and find his old mentor once this was all over and done with.

Thinking that way, Dylan put his hand over the Rose Cross pinned to his shirt. He gave one last remorseful thought to Tina, and then returned his focus to the task at hand, and prayed that nothing horrible would happen to the Exorcist he was heading to help.

Luckily, any remaining Akuma were all focused on Kanda and the other Exorcist in the distance, who both appeared to be handling their situations very well. Thanks to this situation, Dylan had nothing stopping him from a straight path to the Exorcist who continued to fight against an enemy he could not seem to defeat on his own.

Dylan looked to the sky, but then got an ominous feeling when he did. The Innocence he had seen spinning through the air was suddenly nowhere to be seen over the buildings. It made Dylan fear the worst and hasten his approach. But as Dylan turned the last corner to his destination, he immediately froze upon seeing what awaited him.

He saw a single man in an Exorcist uniform hanging upside down on a light post, held up by chains wrapped around his waist and arms that were held out to the sides as if nailed to an upside down cross. However, whoever had done this to him was not around.

But considering how soon Dylan had arrived after the Exorcist's Innocence stopped showing up in the sky, whoever the culprit was had to still be close by. Dylan could still find whatever had done this to him. Thinking that, Dylan stabbed his sword into the ground and extended himself upward into the air to attempt and find anything nearby that could have done this.

Just a couple streets down, Dylan saw a lone figure walking away from the scene. It was probably an Akuma that was using its human appearance to try and get away unseen, possibly having been damaged to the point it couldn't fight anymore. If that were true, then Dylan had less to worry about with the actual battle, and might be able to destroy it on his own.

But even if it wasn't true, it wouldn't have stopped Dylan from charging the thing in an instant. "Damn Akuma!" Dylan growled to himself and then stretched and bent his Innocence to get at the monster that had killed an Exorcist.

He landed silently on the ground on the next street over from the Akuma to keep from being seen and sneak up on it. He retracted the end of his Innocence to make it the regular size of a sword again and then went around the corner behind where the Akuma was. But when Dylan looked around the corner expecting to see the back of the Akuma in human form, he found himself staring down an empty street.

"What?" Dylan whispered to himself. The Akuma had not had nearly enough time to escape by any means, even if it had noticed him coming toward it.

And yet just then, "What's wrong?" A menacing voice with a strangely light and sarcastic tone came from directly behind Dylan.

Dylan had no idea how the Akuma had gotten there, but an instinctive impulse took over his body when he heard the voice and leaped away from the Akuma behind him, rolling and turning himself around to face it. But once again when Dylan looked there was suddenly no one there.

Was it invisible? Was that the Akuma's special power? Or was it simply blinding speed? Dylan's answer came soon enough, because just then, from directly in front of him, a figure began phasing up through the ground so that the monster's face was right in front of his.

Its eyes were filled to the brim with bloodlust, and it seemed certain the beast would strike into Dylan's chest in that instant before he had the chance to react. Or at least the monster might have been prepared to do that, if it hadn't been for the surprise that overtook both it and Dylan in the same instant.

The two of them recognized each other's faces. The dark-skinned, wavy black haired man with cross shaped scars across his forehead suddenly kicked off the ground and burst himself away from Dylan in order to examine him at a safer distance. "You're…" The man muttered, as if unsure of what he was seeing.

Dylan was no less shocked to be seeing the man in front of him. Upon full realization of the person's identity and remembering he was the person who had killed the Exorcist just a moment ago, Dylan's expression changed from shock to anger. "…Tyki Mikk!" He yelled and then charged forward.

He had met Tyki Mikk once before, over a year after his leaving the Order. Dylan had attempted to fight him then but was overpowered quite easily. Dylan would have died back then at the hands of this man, but Tyki Mikk had allowed him to live on a whim; and whether by chance or destiny, the two of them had come face-to-face with each other for a second time.

Dylan swung his blade at Tyki's neck without question or hesitation. Tyki had defeated him once before, and this time Dylan was brutally beaten from fighting the Level 3 Akuma. His odds were much worse than they were back then by far, but that did not stop Dylan from charging forward to avenge the Exorcist Tyki Mikk had killed.

Dylan swung his sword, but Tyki Mikk phased through the ground using his ability of 'Choose' which allowed him to choose what could and could not touch him with the exception of Innocence. Tyki came up again right behind Dylan and kicked him in the back, knocking him down to the ground.

"…The ex-Exorcist boy; I remember you." Tyki said, finishing his original thought.

"Should I be flattered?" Dylan asked in frustration as he got back to his feet and pointed his sword at Tyki again.

"Well, I did say 'may our paths cross again', but I can't say I expected to see you in a place with so many full-fledged Exorcists around." Tyki said, not directly answering Dylan's question. "So perhaps I'll ask; what are you doing here, ex-Exorcist?"

"Don't call me that." Dylan warned Tyki, who suddenly realized he had the Rose Cross pinned to his chest. "That may have been true of me this morning, but I've realized that the Order is where I truly belong."

"Oh?" Tyki hummed when he heard this. "I wonder, what kind of revelation could you have had since this morning?"

"Three of my friends from the Order were just killed by one of your Akuma that evolved into a Level 3." Dylan answered. "One of them used every last breath she had to convince me to go back." He added, his voice quivering from recalling Tina's state as she passed.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Tyki Mikk told Dylan, although Dylan knew that it couldn't possibly have been truthful. After saying that, Tyki reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. Dylan remembered that last time they fought he had used the same kind of card for his 'list' of people to kill. "A shame really…" Tyki said and put the card away. "You're still not on my list."

Hearing him say that, Dylan narrowed his eyes and stared at Tyki. "And that other Exorcist; the one you hung upside down?" Dylan began to ask, his voice still quivering. "Was he on your list then?"

Tyki looked at Dylan with a look that said he was surprised he was worrying about something like that was followed by a sigh. Tyki pulled out a silver button Dylan recognized as the kind that would have been put on the Exorcist's uniforms, meaning Tyki must have plucked that one of the Exorcist he had killed.

"Daisya Barry… I regretfully answer you that he was not on my list." Tyki told Dylan with an actual tone of remorse.

But Dylan ignored how it was said and focused on the blunt meaning of them. He stabbed his Innocence forward and extended the blade at Tyki's forehead. Tyki knew many of Dylan's abilities from their first encounter and so easily dodged to the side and phased through a wall to avoid that bend or secondary blade attack that might have followed.

However Dylan did not do anything past extending the blade and then Tyki came out from the wall behind Dylan. "I initially tried to get out of fighting the Barry Exorcist." He informed Dylan, who looked back at him from over his shoulder. "But he continued to attack me, and well… I lost control of my black side." He said, a slight curl appearing at the corner of his mouth. "Sometimes I forget that I have to be grateful to both my black and white sides, or else I might lose one of them." He began explaining, but Dylan didn't understand what this talk of Tyki's 'white' and 'black' sides was and lifted his extended sword over his head and then brought it crashing down on Tyki's head and morphing it into a hammer.

For a moment it seemed as if Dylan had successfully squashed Tyki, but he knew it couldn't have been that easy and morphed his Innocence into a regular sized sword, seeing that Tyki was missing from where he was, probably having escaped underground. As Dylan thought that, Tyki then shot up from right under him and stretched his hand up and jabbed it into his chest before Dylan could even stumble backward, but immediately Dylan realized he was not injured because Tyki had 'chosen' not to actually touch Dylan's body.

"Don't try anything now, or I'll rip out your heart." Tyki warned Dylan, and tightened his hand inside Dylan's chest to prove the hand was around his heart and could crush it at any moment. Dylan cringed slightly from the pressure on his heart, but loosened his grip on his sword and let its tip touch the ground as he waited for Tyki to continue speaking. "If I could have, I would have liked to avoid killing that Exorcist. But as I said, I lost myself to my black side. However, somehow seeing your face again has brought me back to my senses; I guess it's because of the comical aspect I find in meeting you again here." Tyki said with a chuckle.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Dylan asked with a menacing tone, just barely holding back the urge to ignore Tyki's hand around his heart and cut him open with his Innocence. From the way Tyki was speaking, it made it sound like he was planning to once again let Dylan off the hook on a whim.

"I'm saying I'd also rather not kill you if I can help it. But you aren't going to let me go either, are you?" Tyki asked with a disappointed tone and expression, while at the same time shifting his hold on Dylan's heart. Dylan did not answer, but instead looked Tyki in the eye that showed his determination more than words ever could have. Seeing that expression, Tyki smirked and closed his eyes. "I see, I thought so." Dylan looked down at his Innocence, the tip of which was resting against the ground. "What are you thinking? Maybe you'll try to take me along with you as you valiantly risk your life to kill an enemy?"

Dylan took a second before shifting his eyes back to stare into Tyki's and answered his question. "Not at all." He told him, and that kind of answer surprised Tyki because he could hear the hidden meaning of those words. Dylan meant that he was planning on killing Tyki, and still making it out alive himself. "After everything my friends put on the line to get me back to the Order…" He began, and then tightened his grip on his Innocence, lifting it over the ground, which made an odd clinking sound Tyki noticed. "…There's no way I could die before I return!" He finished his declaration.

Without any additional warning, Dylan suddenly jumped forward at an abnormal speed. Tyki used his 'choose' ability to let Dylan pass straight through him while at the same time attempting to figure out what had given him that odd burst of speed. But before he could think much on it, Dylan's feet were already about to pass through his body along with the rest of him, but then…

Something caught Tyki against his chest just when Dylan's feet had finished passing through him. He looked down at his chest and saw a pair of metal plates that were forcibly pulling him back. Tyki realized the plates were parts of Dylan's Innocence, but he had no idea how they had gotten to the soles of his feet.

But then Tyki remembered something and looked down at the ground carefully, and he saw the smallest crack where the tip of Dylan's sword had been. Dylan must have sent a thread of his Innocence through the ground to his feet, where he stitched on plates and used them to boost himself forward faster than Tyki would have been able to pull out his heart.

Also, because they were made of Innocence, Tyki could not 'choose' not to touch them, and so they hit him while connected to Dylan's feet and dragged him backwards. Dylan rolled over the ground and his feet came up and out through Tyki's shoulder's, allowing him to hit the ground, although it wasn't in any way a major blow.

But that had simply been a means of escaping death for Dylan; and instead of turning to attack, he put the soles of his feet flat on the ground and used his Innocence to boost himself into the air and keep him in mid-air. No matter where Dylan ran, Tyki would be able to reach him using his 'choose' ability, but at least if he was up in the air, there was no way for Tyki to sneak up on him.

Tyki got back to his feet and looked up at Dylan, who appeared to be having trouble keeping himself balanced in mid-air. (Hee, this must be the first time he's ever used that kind of technique. He only has the Innocence on his feet, so it's more like he's being dragged around by them than he is controlling them.) Tyki thought to himself.

Dylan had certainly improved his fighting since Tyki had first met him. In their first battle Dylan had been too straightforward and continued to use one trick after another until there was nothing left. But that fighting had put him at a disadvantage once he was out of tricks, because then Tyki would be able to plan for everything he might be able to pull.

However this time, Tyki could tell that Dylan had even more tricks up his sleeves that he hadn't possessed back then but was still not using to keep as secret weapons, which was a much smarter way of fighting. Tyki knew that if he tried to run away in the current situation, he would just be pursued by Dylan. He wanted to keep hold of his white side, and was honestly beginning to like Dylan besides, so if he could avoid killing him, he would want to.

If he could knock Dylan unconscious, that would be enough. And due to Dylan's current condition from the Level 3 he said he fought, doing so should not be too much of a challenge. It would simply be a question of how long Dylan could avoid it.

While Tyki was thinking up a strategy, Dylan made his own actions. He morphed his Innocence into a pistol and pointed it down at him. Dylan fired the gun four times, but instead of going straight for Tyki, the bullets stuck into the ground around him. Tyki was taken off guard by this and wondered what trick Dylan was pulling. He knew Dylan could control the bullets trajectory at will, but this did not seem to be the same thing.

He looked closely at one of the bullets and noticed it spark with some kind of electricity. Tyki did not know what that meant would happen, but in anticipation shot himself high into the air. When he did, the four bullets all made a grand explosion that decimated where he had been standing. Because the explosions had been caused with the power of Innocence, Tyki would have surely been put in a bad situation if those had detonated a moment sooner.

Tyki used his power to keep himself standing in mid-air and then looked back to Dylan, who was now charging at Tyki with an ax in hand. Dylan chucked the ax head at Tyki's neck with all his strength, but Tyki bent back and ducked under the blade to avoid it. But it had just been dumb luck Dylan did not decide to extend a new blade out of the side of the ax to stab his head.

Tyki put his feet up and kicked off of Dylan's chest hard, pushing himself back before Dylan could use another attack to keep distance between them and then continued to examine the situation, decided what the best course of action to take would be. The first thing he noticed was Dylan struggle to keep balance after being kicked in the chest due to the only thing holding him in the air being the plates on the bottom of his feet.

That was probably the biggest advantage Tyki could exploit at the moment. Even with his heavy injuries, Dylan's raw hatred toward Tyki seemed to be boosting his ability to cope with the pain and actually accenting his fighting skill rather than diminish it.

Most would go into a blind rage in Dylan's situation; but he managed to keep his head and make his anger work for him in battle, allowing him to somehow make clearer decisions on how to attack or defend.

Tyki ran across the air to the side and began to circle Dylan once he regained full balance in the air. "This flight trick you're pulling won't keep you airborne for long will it? You're not used to fighting in the air at all!" Tyki pointed out in an attempt to distract Dylan just before charging in at him.

But when he did Dylan swung his ax shaped Innocence around to attack Tyki, but he ducked and avoided the blow, but watched carefully for any protrusion in the weapon to indicate a side attack might be coming, but none did. Tyki narrowed his eyes when he saw this and stabbed his hand up, reaching for Dylan's neck.

But Dylan pushed, or maybe it was more accurate to say that he yanked himself backwards with his Innocence and quickly regained balance. Tyki had realized something just now, that was the second time that fight that Tyki had been expecting Dylan to make a side attack after his first one missed, but neither time had he attempted to do so. Assuming Dylan wasn't purposefully leading Tyki astray to give him a false sense of security, there was only one possibility Tyki could think of to explain why that was.

Humoring the idea, Tyki grinned as if his victory had just been assured. "You run out of juice haven't you, boy?" He asked, surprising Dylan. "You've overused your Innocence!" He declared and then raced forward without anymore hesitation.

If Tyki was right, then the reason Dylan did not use his side attacks was because doing so in his current situation would cause to much stress to be put on his Innocence and cause it to not work correctly. It made sense after having such a dangerous bout with a Level 3; but what that meant for Tyki was that he no longer had to fear being in a close quarter's battle with Dylan where he might be attacked from any angle at any moment.

Dylan's irritated scoff when Tyki proclaimed this possibility was all the confirmation Tyki needed to be sure that was the case. Now he would be able to end the fight quickly and get out of this city, to his next destination he was set to go.

Dylan raised his Innocence which he now kept in ax form because even changing its primary form would now be too difficult to perform in the usual amount of time. So he raised the ax head and then chopped down on Tyki's head as he came closer. However, Tyki kicked off the air and trailed off to Dylan's right, having anticipated just that kind of move.

With a sadistic smile sprawled across Tyki's face, the Noah put out one had and 'choose' to have his hand touch the air and stop himself short at Dylan's side. Tyki then swung his foot over and smashed his leg into Dylan's gut, throwing him back from the incredible strength behind the kick.

Dylan quickly caught himself with the plates at his feet, but even his power to control them separated from the Innocence's main body was becoming too much of a toll. Dylan realized there was almost no chance of him getting the better of Tyki now that he had no fear of being in close combat with him. And so quickly devised a new plan as Tyki charged forward yet again.

Dylan swung the ax at Tyki from the side, and just as he had expected, Tyki ducked under the blade with ease. However, when Tyki ducked, he was suddenly met with the Innocence plate on the bottom of Dylan's foot being stretched out toward him. As Tyki knew the objects form could not be controlled very easily, Tyki held no fear for the blunt weapon even if it could touch him.

With this lack of fear, all Tyki did was put his right arm in the way of the kick to block and then try to push Dylan off balance. And yet Tyki felt an odd sting of pain when he blocked it, although it only caused enough pain to cause him to just barely flinch. Tyki noticed small sparks of electricity on Dylan's Innocence and realized that was what must have caused the pain.

Tyki ignored it as he had barely done anything and pushed Dylan backward with his strength, knocking him off balance as he had planned and then reached forward and grabbed Dylan by his throat. He then took Dylan and smashed him down into the ground, making sure to slam him head first into the cold stone.

Dylan coughed up blood and could feel his consciousness begin to fade away. (No…) Dylan thought to himself as he looked up at Tyki who held his throat and waited for him to fall unconscious. (I've got to stay awake…) He desperately fought to keep his vision clear.

But finally, Dylan's eyes closed and his body relaxed. His Innocence deactivated by itself which was enough proof to Tyki that Dylan had truly lost consciousness. But even after that Tyki didn't move his hand away from Dylan's throat. "It would be so simple… to just kill him right now." He muttered to himself, just barely tightening his grip on Dylan's throat. "But-" Tyki had to remind himself not to let his black side win over him again. He had to keep hold of his white side as well. "But I still need to remember to be careful."

With those words, Tyki relaxed his arm and stood up straight over Dylan's body. "If our paths cross again, I warn you be wary. I highly doubt I will be able to stop myself from killing you a third time." He warned the unconscious Exorcist who wouldn't be able to hear it, and with that final note began to leave the city of Barcelona.

It was a few hours before Dylan's eyes reopened. However, this was not the awakening of one who had just been forced unconscious by an enemy. Instead, Dylan's eyes opened suddenly and deliberately, as if he had planned to wake up at that exact moment.

Dylan thought back on the last moment of his battle as he sat upright. When he had kicked Tyki Mikk with his Innocence, Tyki would have felt a small and sharp pain. He had a small electric current running through the plate on his foot, but that had not been the cause of the pain. The electricity had just been a scapegoat for what really caused it.

When his foot struck Tyki's arm, Dylan had used every last ounce of his ability to force his Innocence to morph form into tiny needles that he then embedded deep into Tyki's arm, coating it over his bone where it would remain unseen. Now when he activated his Innocence, he would be able to track the position of Tyki Mikk by using the electric current that existed in the tiny metal stickers in Tyki's arm, which would be practically impossible to notice.

The electric current might have caused a slight tingling sensation in Tyki's arm when active, but it would take some extreme paranoia or intuition to believe it was actually a problem that needed to be dealt with, even if he was a Noah.

Finally, Dylan had just barely won the fight to stay awake, and merely pretended to faint because he knew that continuing to struggle against Tyki in his condition would have been utterly fruitless, and he still intended to avenge the fallen Exorcist he had killed.

Thinking about what he would have to do, Dylan put his hand over the Rose Cross he had taken off Tina's uniform and made an oath right there and then. No matter what happened, Dylan swore to himself that he would absolutely get back to the Order alive.

But before doing so, he pledged that he would find Tyki Mikk and kill him. The promise was a double-edged sword as well as a vow of ultimate determination. If he were to fight Tyki Mikk again, there was no guarantee he would make it out alive and back to the Order. But his oath to make it back to the Order alive set his determination to make absolutely certain he did not fail in killing Tyki Mikk so that he could return alive.

Dylan made that life-sworn oath to the Exorcist Daisya Barry, to Tina, Gwen and Sol, and lastly to himself as the heaviest burden he would ever bare, just as big a burden as his family's death, and carry it with him until it was fulfilled.

With all of that in mind, Dylan grabbed his Innocence from the ground and stood up, leaving the city of Barcelona just before daybreak.


	28. Trick Question

_28th Dusk: Trick Question_

The sun was about to rise as Dylan left Barcelona. He looked back and saw the last of the Akuma had been destroyed by Kanda and the other remaining Exorcist, Marie Noise. That just left the bodies of Tina, Gwen, Sol, and Daisya Barry to be found by them. Dylan was still badly beaten, but he couldn't afford to slow down if he wanted to catch up to Tyki Mikk.

Dylan's Innocence was still hard to control because of how much it had been used that night, but Dylan activated just a moment to check the direction he would need to go. The tiny fragments of Dylan's Innocence in Tyki's arm would give off an electric signal on his command that the main body of his Innocence would be able to track like it could find the fragments of Innocence that were lying in wait around the world when he got close. Only since what he was tracking was part of his own Innocence, they were attracted to each other like magnets, and the fragments signal could be tracked from anywhere no matter how far apart Dylan and Tyki were, although the signal would be lessened the further he was.

When Dylan activated his Innocence to check the direction of Tyki Mikk, the electrical sparks began pointing in one direction just like when drawn to a slumbering piece of Innocence. The direction it currently pointed was northeast. Dylan wasn't able to tell exactly how far away Tyki was, but by looking at the dim response he was receiving from the fragments, he had to have covered quite the distance in these few hours; and it was likely because he was trying to put as much distance between him and Dylan as possible since he knew Dylan would try to chase after him once he woke up.

Of course, Dylan wasn't trying

Having the direction, Dylan deactivated his Innocence and hooked it onto his back using a large strap and then looked below him at a line of railway tracks. In the distance, Dylan saw a train making its approach along the tracks until they began to pass by him.

When it was, Dylan jumped down onto the roof of the train. He landed on his feet, but his legs were so bruised and beaten that they couldn't support him through the impact, causing him to fall and begin to roll backward across the train. However, because of his Innocence being deactivated, its bulky form stopped him from going too far along.

Dylan clenched his teeth due to the pain the fall had caused, but then swallowed it all down to stand up and open up a hatch on the roof of the train that led inside. When he hopped down though, one of the workers on the train gave him a shocked look from the way he had entered.

"S-sir you-"

"I work for the Black Order." Dylan cut the man off and pointed out the Rose Cross on his shirt. "I need you to take me as far as this train is going."

"Y-yes sir!" The worker said with a low bow. "But… what about your injuries?" He asked, looking up again.

Dylan looked himself over once more. "None of my wounds are serious. A few days of rest and I'll be just fine, so you don't need to worry about me." He told the man.

Even though Dylan was badly bashed up, because of the nature of the Level 3 Akuma's attacks he had fought, the only wound that was worse than a bruise was the bullet hole in his shoulder when the Akuma had deflected it back at him. He would need to have that one patched up somewhere, but it was in no way an immediate concern of his.

"V-very well, sir…" The worker said, bowing to Dylan again.

Dylan was led into a 1st class room where he immediately threw his Innocence onto the ground and himself onto one of the soft benches. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." The worker told Dylan.

"Right," Dylan answered, and then the worker closed the door to the room.

Dylan gave an exasperated sigh as he thought about all the events of the last 24 hours. Mostly he thought of how Tina, Sol, and Gwen had all given their lives for him. Thinking about that, he took their fragments of Innocence he had collected beforehand to ensure their safety and looked at them with sorrow filled eyes. His hand shook as he reminded himself of his promise that he would definitely return to the Order alive.

After a moment, he put the pieces of Innocence back down and drifted off to sleep. For the second time, he dreamt his new dream.

The pure white room, no one but him around, and his Innocence as a sword stabbed into the ground. The sword split into two that moved to either side, with one labeled 'protection'; and the other labeled 'DESTRUCTION', each glowing their respective lights. But this time was different from any other time Dylan had ever had this sort of hallucination. This time, he knew exactly what he was doing.

Faced with this dream again, Dylan thought of Tina's final words to him before she had died. She had spoken both of protection and destruction, and said they were both part of who he was. When he had heard those words, everything had become so abnormally clear it was if the only reason he hadn't seen it before was because his eyelids had been closed over his eyes the whole time.

A trick question.

Trick questions were probably one of the cruelest things ever made; or at least that was how it currently felt to Dylan. The thing about a trick question was that the correct answer, if there even was one to begin with, was _never_ one of the answer options given by the questioner, which made the person being asked the question feel stupid once they were told the answer.

In Dylan's case, he had been given a choice to protect or destroy, but the asking of the question in itself was a trick. The fact here was that there never was two choices to begin with, and it went back all the way to his original dream involving his prophecy.

General Cloud Nine had warned Dylan not to be fooled by what he was being told, but he had not understood what that meant. And at the same time the Earl had been telling to go ahead and take his sword if he could figure out which one was his. But that was the original trick. And now Dylan knew exactly which sword to pick up.

He would pick both.

Both blades represented a part of his life. He destroyed Akuma in order to protect the humans they sought to kill. There was no 'right answer' to the question Dylan had been asked for years. There was simply a path forward that he needed to start walking. And at long last, he would.

Dylan took a deep breath and then began to stretch both his hands toward both blades. And as he did, the words of the figures that had appeared in his previous daydream ringed in his head.

_"Dylan, don't fall for it."_ Cloud's voice would say.

"Don't worry; I won't fall for any tricks from now on." Dylan assured the voice out loud.

_"Just keep going boy."_ The Earl would try to confuse him with those backwards words.

"That's exactly what I plan to do." He then said, which might have shut the Earl up if he had said it to his face originally.

_"Why did you leave us?" _Lenalee's voice would have stunned him into complete silence.

"I left because I thought there was nothing I could do to stop myself." Dylan answered. "But now I know that there was never a way I could have betrayed you to begin with…"

Finally, Tyki Mikk's voice, the person Dylan despised above all others, had asked him a simple question that now deserved and needed an answer. _"Something wrong, ex-Exorcist?"_

Being asked that with his head on straight, Dylan actually let himself smile, laughing at his own stupidity. "Nothing," He gave the answered. "Absolutely nothing is wrong; not anymore."

When Dylan uttered those words, he finally clutched the hilts of his two swords in his hands, and their two lights blended together until they died out, becoming nothing more than the proper shimmer they were supposed to have. He pulled them from the ground and stood straight with a victorious stance, and then, for what he realized would be the very last time… the dream came to an end.

Dylan woke up to shaking. When he opened his eyes he saw the train attendant from earlier. "Sir, sir wake up." He was saying.

"Are we at the end of the line?" Dylan asked, as he had requested to be taken all the way there.

"No, it's-"

"They told me they had a passenger who was very badly injured, and asked me to have a look at you." The attendant was cut off by an elderly bald man with a long white mustache. "I'm a doctor, my name is August Hoover. And you are?" The doctor asked while holding his hand out in greeting.

"Dylan Aiken," Dylan answered, and shook the Dr. Hoover's hand.

"Well then Mr. Aiken, let's have a look shall we?" Dr. Hoover said and motioned the train attendant to leave the room as he set down a case full of medical supplies. "Please take off your shirt and turn around."

Dylan did as he was told, and Dr. Hoover took out a stethoscope, placing the circular end against Dylan's back. "Breathe in a few times will you." He told Dylan, and as he was, Dr. Hoover began a conversation. "I couldn't help but notice your Rose Cross. So I take it you are part of the Black Order?" He asked, and Dylan nodded in response. "I myself am actually a supporter of the Black Order, so- turn around- that explains why your injuries are far more severe than I originally expected when the attendant told me about an injured passenger." He said, and gave Dylan a smile once he had turned around.

Dylan was slightly surprised to find that Dr. Hoover was a supporter. "So that means…"

"Yes, I know all about Innocence, and Akuma, and the Millennium Earl." Dr. Hoover told Dylan as he put the stethoscope to his chest. "Breathe." He said, and Dylan complied. "Now if I may be so bold; I have met Exorcists of the Black Order before, so I feel obligated to ask why you are the first one I've seen that isn't wearing their uniform."

Dylan's breath stopped short at the question. For those that knew all about the Order, his current attire would seem off, so that question was only natural to be asked. The Doctor may have actually been trying to check that Dylan was not in fact an Akuma claiming to be from the Order to try and sneak into their Headquarters.

"Let's just say I've been through a lot these past years." Dylan answered. He didn't really want to go through the whole story of why he left the Order for several reasons, and just had to hope that Dr. Hoover would let it be enough.

"I see… stand up please." Dr. Hoover said, and Dylan did so. "Arms up." He told Dylan, and then began feeling the sides of his ribcage. "Well I suppose if you were an Akuma, you would have already disposed of those Innocence fragments with you wouldn't you have?" Dr. Hoover noted, confirming that he was attempting to be sure Dylan wasn't actually an Akuma in disguise, having spotter the five fragments of Innocence Dylan carried with him. "May I ask where you got them?"

"I found them." Dylan answered. "My own Innocence has a special property that attracts it to the dormant fragments like a magnet when I get close to one." He said, although he gotten three of them from his friends who had died, he just didn't want to bring it up.

"I see," Dr. Hoover said with a chuckle and pulled his arms away from Dylan's sides. "Well, a few of your ribs appear to be fractured, and there is the business of the hole in your shoulder there." He pointed out and went back to his case of medical supplies, putting the stethoscopes away and taking out some ointment for the injuries. "This might sting a little." He noted as he began dabbing Dylan's bullet wound first.

As the Doctor said, it stung as it was applied, but Dylan bore through it. Until it was done and Dr. Hoover began spreading the ointment over the rest of his bruises and smaller cuts, which did not sting nearly as bad, so it was easier. When Dr. Hoover had finished applying the ointment, he took out some gauze that he began to wrap around the bullet wound.

When he was finally done, Dr. Hoover spoke to Dylan once more. "Now that should do you a lot of good for the short term, but as a precaution I would like to give you one last checkup and treatment once we arrive at my destination in Germany. I'll want to make sure that hole in your shoulder isn't infected and I'll want to see how your healing process goes. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, that's fine." Dylan answered, putting his shirt back on.

Two days ago Dylan might have flat out refused even letting Dr. Hoover treat him, even faster jumped from the train when he found out he was an Order supporter. But with his newfound determination, it no longer mattered to him if the Order did find out about him. If that for some reason happened and he met another Exorcist from the Order before he killed Tyki and returned on his own, it would simply mean that he would return sooner than he had wished.

Besides, he knew he would have to recuperate from his injuries before he could properly fight Tyki with a chance of victory, so having Dr. Hoover do a second check on him later was in fact beneficial for Dylan now.

"I'll have business in Frankfurt, so when this train arrives in Zurich, Switzerland, we will be switching trains for the rest of the way to Frankfurt." Dr. Hoover told Dylan the travel plans for his destination.

"Speaking of, where are we now?" Dylan asked, realizing he could have been asleep for hours despite how little time had seemed to pass during his dream.

"We have just gone through Grenoble, France. It will still be a while before we get to Zurich, so I would recommend you get some more rest before we arrive. I will wake you when we need to switch trains." Dr. Hoover told Dylan.

"Thank you, Doctor." Dylan thanked the elderly man and lay back down to continue to sleep.

When the train arrived in Zurich, Dr. Hoover woke Dylan again and they switched trains for the rest of the way to Frankfurt, Germany. By now it was already past noon, but since they were using a first class car and Dylan was recognized as a member of the Black Order that worked under the Vatican, the two of them could get as much food as they needed.

Dylan and Dr. Hoover did not do much in the way of talking for the remainder of the trip, and when they finally arrived in Frankfurt, the sun was beginning to set already. "So Doctor, what business is it you have here?" Dylan asked.

"There is a patient here I treat on a regular basis; about once every 2-3 months for an illness she has that cannot be treated, at least not yet." Dr. Hoover told Dylan and began leading him away from the train station. "The patient is actually a daughter of one of the Exorcists at the Black Order. The girl's name is Jamie; the father's name is Suman Dark."

When Dylan heard this, he suddenly stopped walking, and wondering what was wrong, Dr. Hoover stopped as well. "Suman's daughter?" He confirmed that he heard the Doctor correctly, but merely out of curiosity, not shock.

He recalled when he went on a mission with Suman. Suman had told him that he had not wished to join the Order, but did so under the promise that the Order pay for his daughter's medical fees. He had never given that much thought though, and having that brought back up in such a random fashion had taken Dylan by surprise.

"Ah, do you know Suman then?" The Doctor asked Dylan.

"Yes… well, I didn't know him very well. We had only really known each other on a professional level, and only heard about his daughter in passing. I haven't seen him in many years."

"I see," Dr. Hoover said, and then continued leading Dylan to their destination. "Well, even if it has been awhile, perhaps if you could talk to Jamie and her mother about him, it will help lighten their spirits. The two always have worried for him because of the nature of being an Exorcist. So maybe it is a good thing that the two of us met today."

Dr. Hoover gave Dylan a grin, believing that this would be a very positive thing for Suman's family. Dylan didn't mind the idea; it would give hope to Suman's family, and perhaps the meeting could lift up his own spirits in the process. With everything that happened yesterday in Barcelona, he could certainly use some time to relax and clear his head.

Dr. Hoover led Dylan to the Dark's house and knocked on the door. When the door opened a beautiful middle-aged brunette woman appeared at the door. "Gloria, dear; always good to see you." Dr. Hoover greeted the woman.

"Oh, Dr. Hoover; welcome back." The woman named Gloria, who must have been Suman's wife, replied and shook the Doctor's hand. "Come in, come in," She told him, but then stopped upon noticing Dylan. "And who is this Doctor?" She asked.

"Ah, yes, this young man is Dylan Aiken, he is an Exorcist of the Black Order I met on my way here. He was grievously wounded in battle as you can see, so I treated him and insisted he come with me for a secondary inspection tonight." Dr. Hoover explained. "He was also briefly acquainted with your husband Suman." He added as a side note.

When she was told that, Gloria looked up and examined Dylan closer. "Y-you know my husband?" She asked, worry and hope meshing together in her voice.

"Yes," Dylan answered, leaving out the part about not having seen him in years.

"Well, come in then." Gloria told Dylan, motioning him toward the house.

Dylan entered the house and looked around. It was a modest two-story house, but its overall size was small, so it looked like most of the facilities of the house were all crammed together in a single room, which would have left the upstairs open for the bedrooms.

"I will check with Jamie first, so if you don't mind waiting Dylan…" Dr. Hoover said.

"There's a guest bedroom upstairs if you would like to rest while you wait." Gloria told Dylan, motioning over to the stairs. "It will be the second door on your right."

"Thank you, I think I'll take you up on that offer. I will be waiting Doctor." Dylan said to both of them, and then went upstairs and into the guest bedroom.

Dylan still felt wiped out from fighting in Barcelona, and so when he entered the room and saw the bed, took his Innocence off of his back and placed it on the ground before plopping down on the firm mattress and closing his eyes, giving one last passing thought to Suman, having to wonder now just how he was doing.

Before he even realized it, Dylan had fallen asleep again.


	29. Jamie Dark: Exorcist's Daughter

_29th Dusk: Jamie Dark: Exorcist's Daughter_

When Dylan awoke next, he felt the morning sun on his face shining through the window of the guest room. Realizing this meant he had stayed here overnight, which had been much longer than he originally intended, he opened his eyes wide and sat upright.

But when he did he was met with the pain of his still tender wounds. He also found that the bandages on his bullet wound had been changed out and the bed covers put over him while he had been asleep. He must have fallen asleep without meaning to and then Gloria and the Doctor did not want to wake him out of consideration for his health.

It may have been longer than he intended, but the more rest he got before finding Tyki again, the better. But still, he did not want to fall too far behind Tyki, or he might take too long to catch him, which to him was even worse. Thinking that, Dylan reached to the side for his Innocence so he could check the direction and approximate distance of Tyki Mikk.

However, just when Dylan was about to do that, the door to the room opened up, and Gloria came in. "Oh, you're awake." She noted. "Well, breakfast is ready, so why don't you wash up and come downstairs." She told Dylan, treating him as a proper houseguest despite not really knowing much about him.

"Ah, sure, thank you." Dylan told her, and then moved his hand around without looking back to grab his Innocence from the floor and stood up, walking out of the room.

However, because he hadn't looked over, there was something he had missed on the desk next to his bed. The fragments of Innocence he carried with him had been taken and set on the desk, but the important thing he had missed was that one of the five fragments were glowing brighter than the others, which could have meant only one thing…

Its Accommodator was very near.

After Dylan took a bath, Dr. Hoover replaced his bandages once more and then they joined Gloria for breakfast. "So Dylan," Gloria spoke up while they ate. "How well do you know Suman?"

Of course she would be concerned for her husband's well-being; it was only natural of her. But the problem here was that Dylan had only met Suman once and it had been for mission years ago. He didn't know much about Suman beyond the fact he had joined the Order to pay for his daughter's medical fees. Even worse, Dylan had absolutely no way of knowing if Suman was even still alive after all these years.

That thought scared Dylan. The only thing that had even made him think of that possibility was remembering all the deaths that had occurred in Barcelona. It had reminded him of the risk Exorcists took on a daily basis, and now he couldn't help wondering what Suman's current status was.

Putting it all aside for now, Dylan answered Gloria. "Not too well. I only really know him on a professional level." He admitted. "He did however mention his daughter. He must really care for her."

"Oh yes, Suman has always adored Jamie. She's our pride and joy; if only we could cure her disease…" She said.

"Speaking of, is Jamie not coming down to eat?" Dylan asked and looked over to the stairs.

"She's still sleeping, and I don't like to wake her up." Gloria answered.

Dr. Hoover then added, "When I examined her yesterday, I told her about your acquaintanceship with Suman. She is quite anxious to meet you herself."

"I see," Dylan said, still looking up the stairs. "Well, I suppose I can wait for her to wake up, but I will want to be leaving soon after; I'm in a bit of a rush."

"Of course, I understand." Gloria told Dylan. "You Exorcists are always busy aren't you?"

"Yeah; always working," Dylan agreed, which may have gone double for him as he was constantly travelling instead of only operating on missions handed out by the Order.

After the three of them finished eating, Dr. Hoover went upstairs to see if Jamie had woken up yet, and Dylan went to gather up the fragments of Innocence he realized he had left in the guest room.

As Dylan went to the guest room, Dr. Hoover opened up the door to Jamie's room after knocking. "Ah, Jamie you're awake." He noted, then turned to Dylan and nodded. "Give me a moment and then come in to meet her." He told Dylan.

Dylan nodded and then he entered the guest room. However, when he looked to the desk and saw the fragments of Innocence, he immediately froze upon noticing the glowing fragment of Innocence and understanding it meaning. He rushed over and picked up the glowing fragment, examining it closely.

"An Accommodator?" He whispered to himself.

He had been carrying the Innocence around with him for over a year now, but this was the first time one of the fragments had reacted to its Accommodator. But his real surprise was over where he was and who he was with at the time. He hadn't checked the Innocence fragments the previous night, and so didn't know how long the fragment had been reacting like this, but because it was reacting here inside the house, it would stand to reason the Accommodator was someone in this house.

That was where Dylan's surprise was. But if it had been reacting to the Doctor, he would have noticed back on the train. That left only Gloria and Jamie Dark as possible Accommodators if the assumption that it had been reacting to someone in the house was correct. There was of course the slight possibility it was reacting to someone else who was simply passing by the house at the time, but judging from the strength of the reaction and the reaction not becoming any weaker as he continued to stare at the Innocence, then the person it was reacting to must be staying within the same area.

It was very hard to believe that Gloria or Jamie might be an Accommodator just like Suman. Even with all the Exorcists he knew of from the order, there hadn't been any two Exorcists that were related to each other. Because of this it seemed oddly peculiar for a member of Suman's family to have also been an Accommodator.

However, he had to be sure. If he went up to Gloria and Jamie with the Innocence and its reaction became stronger, it would prove they were the Accommodator. He picked up the rest of the Innocence fragments and stepped out of the guest room and looked over at the door to Jamie's room.

Dylan hid the reacting fragment of Innocence behind his back to keep the family from noticing it and becoming wary and started to make his way to Jamie's room. Just then, Gloria came up the stairs. "So Dylan, you're going to speak with Jamie now?" She confirmed with him.

Dylan subtly looked down at his arm as he checked the Innocence's reaction. However, the reaction did not grow stronger from being near Gloria. Dylan looked back at Gloria and answered her question. "Yeah, I hope I can ease some of her worries."

"So do I Dylan. Well, come along then." She said, and lead Dylan to the door of Jamie's room.

However, when they came closer, they heard Jamie speak with Dr. Hoover. "I had a dream, Doctor." She said, but in a tone that seemed to imply that it was not a happy dream. "I can't remember the face I saw very well, but I'm sure it was a dream about Papa." When Gloria and Dylan heard this, they stopped in the doorway and looked at Jamie, a young girl with long light brown hair as she spoke while looking out the window at the morning birds.

Jamie looked to be 12 or 13 years old. Dylan thought about the fact she was so young, and found himself fearing that the Innocence would react to her. Unlike the Order, who had even forced Lenalee into joining when she was only 6 years old, Dylan was not heartless. He had sworn to seek out new Exorcists and lead them to the Order, but he would not do so against their will, even if he did work under the Order's name again, he had no right to do that to anyone.

Jamie continued chronicling her dream. "He kept on smiling as he swung my hand in his. But it felt very sad; it was like he was saying goodbye to me…" As Suman's daughter spoke, she held a stuffed teddy bear close to her chest to provide her with comfort before asking Dr. Hoover a finishing question. "He's here isn't he? Papa… He's somewhere in this world, isn't he?"

A moment past without anyone saying anything in response to this question, but then Gloria hurried to console her daughter. "Jamie, why would you think something like that?" She breathed, honestly quite shocked to hear this from her.

Dylan took a close look at Jamie's face now. Her pastel grey eyes reflected the sorrow her dream had caused her. At that time, he took a couple steps into the room, and that was all he needed to confirm it.

The Innocence reacted. It reacted to being so very near its chosen Accommodator; Jamie Dark. He looked down and breathed deeply, calming himself before he spoke up. "If I were you…" He started, making sure he had everyone's attention before continuing. "…I wouldn't just ignore this dream. But I also want you to refrain from jumping to conclusions."

"W-what?" Gloria questioned where this was coming from.

"Until just recently, I myself was plagued by dreams I thought were indicating a worst-case scenario." Dylan explained. "But certain events lead me to realize the dream was only trying to help guide me down my proper path." As Dylan continued to speak, he walked up to Jamie while still holding the Innocence reacting to her behind his back, and then kneeled in front of her bed and took her hand in his free one. "Listen Jamie, please do not assume the worst because of the dream you've had."

Dylan looked into Jamie's eyes with all seriousness held in them, continuing to silently plead with her not to give up hope. "But…" Jamie muttered, looking down. "What else could it mean?"

"I cannot say for certain what your dream means." Dylan confessed. "However, at this moment, I can perhaps give you a second possibility." When Dylan said this, the eyes of Dr. Hoover, Gloria, and especially Jamie were suddenly fixed upon him, wondering what kind of meaning he could give Jamie's dream. "I know that Suman did not join the Order because he wished it; he did it so he might give you treatment.

"You said that in your dream, Suman was swinging his hand in yours with a sad smile. But perhaps the holding of your hand and his smile is meant to imply that you will see each other again soon." He said.

"But, why would Papa be sad to see me again?" Jamie asked, her sorrowful feeling from the dream keeping her from looking toward a bright side.

"Because, if he did not want to be in the Order himself, then he would be filled with even greater pain to know…" Just before he finished his hypothesis, Dylan finally took the reacting Innocence from behind his back and showed it to Jamie. "… to know that you too had joined it."

Seeing the Innocence reacting as it did, Jamie, Gloria, and Dr. Hoover looked at it with awe. "What?" Jamie breathed out the word as if it had been caught in her throat. "I'm… an Exorcist?" She asked, looking back up at Dylan.

"It appears that way." Dylan answered.

But suddenly, Gloria shouted out before either of them could do anything else. "Wait!" It was practically a scream, stealing the others attention from everything else. Gloria's eyes were suddenly filled with frustration, and Dylan could guess the cause of it. "My husband has already been taken from me by the Black Order. You are not taking my sick daughter as well!" She screamed at Dylan, now standing between Jamie and Dylan.

"Mama…" Jamie started.

"You have me wrong, Mrs. Dark." Dylan kept Jamie from going on with whatever she may have tried to say. If it had something to do with her personal decision concerning the Innocence, he wanted her to hear his own feelings before coming to a final conclusion. "The truth is, I am currently not considered a member of the Black Order. I fled many years ago because of those dreams I mentioned earlier. Currently, I am working only under the Order's name, and nothing more.

"So, Ma'am; I would like to make the point that I am not like the Order. They may have no problem taking fathers and children from their homes if they can use Innocence, but I do. I have neither the right nor the wish to impose this Innocence or the fate of an Exorcist unto your daughter.

"In fact, I would encourage her _not _to accept this Innocence. As Exorcists we put our lives on the line every single day and experience an array of death. No child should be forced into such a life; no child should have such a life period. But this does not change the fact that Exorcists are necessary to battle the Millennium Earl.

"Because of this, and only because of this, I am asking Jamie if she would become an Exorcist. Under any other circumstance I would not have even shown Jamie this Innocence, but the situation of the world is dire, so I must at least ask."

"No!" But Jamie's mother did not even give Jamie a choice. "I will not let you make my daughter into an instrument of war!-"

"Mama!" Jamie voice cut in so that she could voice her own opinion. Gloria turned to her daughter stunned. The only reason people interrupted another's objections was because they did not agree with it. Jamie then turned to Dylan and asked a question. "I would… get to see my Papa again?"

Gloria raised her voice in protest. "Jamie-"

"Perhaps," Dylan answered truthfully, unfortunately being unable to promise it. "Again, I encourage you to walk away from this. But if you wish to become an Exorcist; if you consent to this path of your own free will, then I will not stop you." As he said this, he held out the Innocence for her to take if she wished to. "I beg you to consider this carefully, Jamie. The moment you take this Innocence, there will no longer be any turning back. If you have any doubts about this, do not take this from my hand."

Dr. Hoover continued to watch everything in silence, as he had nothing to contribute to this moment. But Gloria quickly bent down and put her hands on Jamie's shoulders. "Jamie, don't do it!" She pleaded with her daughter. "You'll be in danger. You could die!"

"But…" Jamie began, looking down as she thought about what to do. "But I could see Papa again." She muttered, and she began to shake as tears feel from her eye. "I want to see Papa again Mama; I want to see my Papa."

Suddenly Gloria found herself in an awkward position. She couldn't bare it if her daughter was taken away after her husband had; but she also understood Jamie's wish to see Suman again. She herself would give anything just to spend another day with him home with her. She bit her lip as she considered the dreaded conflict and lowered her arm.

She couldn't keep Jamie away from her father; she couldn't force her to stay where she may never see his face again. It killed her to think about her leaving, especially considering her illness: her body was weak, and sometimes it became difficult for her to stand. Would she be able to fight properly at all? But even considering that question, Gloria no longer had the will to speak, and merely watched.

Jamie looked back to Dylan. "I want to see my Papa again. Please," She told him, and then began to stretch out her hands toward the Innocence. "I have no doubts; I want to go to Papa!" She said, and then clasped her hands around the Innocence tightly, and then brought it close to her chest. "Please, let me see him." Jamie whispered this wish to the Innocence itself.

When she did, the Innocence shone brighter than ever, and then began to dissolve into her chest, merging with her body. This meant that it was a Parasitic Innocence that would turn her body itself into a weapon, and that she would be immune to the Akuma blood virus.

The Innocence vanished inside of her chest, and then at the base of her neck, a cross-shaped appendage appeared, which was a normal mark of the Parasitic Innocence. Jamie breathed in and out with a surprised expression as she stared down at her hands. But suddenly, she pulled the sheets of her bed off of her and leaped up to stand on the wooden floor in her nightgown.

"Jamie, be careful!' Gloria told her daughter. "You're body is weak, you could have fallen."

"But, Mama…" Jamie replied, and turned to her mother whilst she still had a surprised look. "I feel better."

"What?" Now Dr. Hoover chimed in. "What do you mean better?" He asked her, as her disease should have been incurable.

Jamie turned to the Doctor before answering. "I can't explain it very well, my body just feels… stronger."

"But how, is it because of the Innocence?" Dr. Hoover asked Dylan.

Dylan gave it some thought. "I believe it's possible. She has a Parasitic Innocence, which will turn her body into a weapon when activated. Maybe since the Innocence has merged with her body, which was weakened from her illness, it provided her with support and strengthened her." He told them, and stood back to his feet.

Now, Jamie smiled up at Dylan. "Now I can go see my Papa?" She asked Dylan hopefully.

In response, Dylan turned to Dr. Hoover. "Doctor, do you know where the Order's Headquarters is?" He asked, confusing the others.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Dr. Hoover responded.

"Can I ask you to make sure Jamie gets there safely?"

"W-wait, aren't you going to take me to the Order?" Jamie interrupted.

But Dylan replied, "No, as I told you earlier, at the moment I am only working under the Order's name. They do not know of my status at the current time, and there is something I must do before I can return to the Order." He said, but when he did unconsciously clenched his fist and narrowed his eyes from the thought of Tyki Mikk.

"Then I'll go with you until you can go back!" Jamie quickly suggested.

"No," Dylan just as quickly denied the idea. "Where I'm going, you will only be in danger with me. I won't put you in that kind of danger." He said, and then repeated his question to Dr. Hoover. "Will you make sure she gets to the Order?"

"Of course," Hoover answered.

"Jamie…" Gloria spoke to her child again, her voice quivering with the sadness she felt. "Just- when you see your father, be sure to tell him I'm doing just fine." She told her daughter, caressing Jamie's hair for a moment before holding her close in an embrace.

Gloria attempted to hold back her tears. She wanted so much to keep Jamie here, but knew there was no way she would be able to change her daughters mind. "I will, Mama." Jamie told her mother and hugged her back. "I'll be sure to tell Papa." She assured her mother, and now both began to cry, not knowing when or if they would see each other again once Jamie left…

Jamie as well as Dylan stayed until after they had lunch together. At that time, Jamie had packed some things and prepared to leave for the Order with Dr. Hoover while Dylan prepared to continue after Tyki's trail, which he had confirmed was still far off east.

The trains they were both using were far from each other, so they could not see the other off. As the doors to the train were about to close on the train Jamie was supposed to board, Dr. Hoover hurried her along. However, she could not stop thinking about Dylan.

Earlier, when Dylan had said there was something he had to do before returning to the Order; she had caught sight of his unconscious reactions, the expression of pain on his face. She recognized the expression because she had had the exact same expression many times when she thought of her father and how she may never see him again, not knowing if he was alive or dead and killing her inside. It was also the same expression her mother had when thinking about the idea of Jamie being in the order, fighting Akuma in life and death battles.

It made her worry about Dylan and become unable to let it go. Suddenly though, Dr. Hoover's voice broke through her thoughts. "You want to go with him don't you?" He asked. Jamie turned her head to him in surprise, and saw him smiling down on her. "I understand, Jamie. He's similar to you in a way isn't he; and I'm sure Dylan has lost people important to him just like you have.

"You should go with him Jamie. You and I both know it's what you really want; so go, I won't stop you. So go."

Jamie wasn't even sure how to respond to this. Dr. Hoover had just spoken her feelings perfectly, and she probably wouldn't have been able to get herself to walk away from Dylan even if Dr. Hoover hadn't said any of this. It was amazing how insightful and understanding the Doctor was, and so now Jamie only had one more thing she could do.

"Last boarding, are you two coming on?" The train employee asked Dr. Hoover and Jamie.

Even though Jamie had not given any indication of her intents, they both knew what she would do now. "I guess it's just me then." Dr. Hoover told the man, and then stepped into the car.

Jamie looked back up to Dr. Hoover and gave him a smile. "Thank you." She thanked him for doing this, and then she began to run for Dylan's train instead.

"All aboard!" a person shouted as the train Dylan was getting on was about to depart.

Dylan quickly got onto the train and then just waited for the doors to close and the train to start moving. A few minutes past and one of the employees made a last second check for anyone not on the train. While he was doing that, a voice called out to him. "Wait, wait, I'm getting on!"

When Dylan heard the voice, he thought for sure he was being delusional. However, when the owner of the voice jumped onto the train, she looked at him while breathing hard with a smile on her face. Dylan's eyes went wide looking at her and he shouted her name in shock. "Jamie! What are doing!?"

"I'm sorry, but I want to go with you no matter the danger. I won't feel right unless I go to the Order together with you." Jamie told Dylan, just shocking him even more.

"But, your mother thinks you're on your way to the Order!" Dylan protested in a frustrated whisper.

"Then I guess it's your duty to keep me safe and make sure we both get back there." Jamie told Dylan so simply it was impossible for Dylan to comprehend. But then, the train began moving. "You said so yourself, there's no turning back anymore."

Dylan was stunned beyond being able to make a retort to Jamie now. They were now stuck together until they went to the Order, which just became another reason that Dylan had to make sure he didn't die before killing Tyki and returning to the Order. Because if he died, so would she.

There was no more turning back, and Dylan just had to hope that neither he nor Jamie would come to regret the decisions they've made.

* * *

**AN: Just a side-note, the disease I diagnosed Jamie with was Addison's disease, which is a rare disease that causes the body to become weak, and is an incurable illness that was not discovered until the 19th century.**


	30. Jamie Dark: Exorcist

_30th Dusk: Jamie Dark: Exorcist_

Dylan used his Rose Cross to get him and Jamie into a first class room. When they sat down, Dylan sighed and rubbed his head with his hand. It was bad enough that he had just made Suman Dark's daughter, a 13 year old girl, into an Exorcist, even if it had been her decision. But now on top of that she had followed him with the resolve to stay with him until they returned to the Order, which meant that he would be leading her straight into battle with a Noah; and he knew from firsthand experience that Tyki was no pushover.

Dylan looked up at Jamie who sat opposite of him. She had taken the Innocence and accepted the fate of an Exorcist almost without hesitation. That determination came from her sole desire to be with her father again; and she was even willing to take on the role of an Exorcist to meet him again.

And yet at the same time, she had decided of her own will to go with Dylan instead of head straight for the Order, which would have been a much faster way of reaching her father. Because of this, Dylan asked Jamie, "Why did you follow me? You could have found Suman if you had gone to the Order; coming with me will just prolong your reunion with him."

To this Jamie responded, "You looked too sad," When she told Dylan that, he became surprised. "I could tell by watching you when you said you had something you had to do before you could go back to the Order. You had the same look I have whenever I think about my papa."

As if it were scripted, Jamie made the expression of sorrow she was talking about at the mention of her father. Because she had just pointed it out herself, Dylan realized that his expression when he thought about his family and friends that had all died truly was the same as Jamie's now.

"I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I decided that I would go with you until we go back to the Order." Jamie added, ridding her face of the sorrowful expression to show Dylan that she was indeed fixed on this path.

Dylan sighed again. "Well, since you'll be coming with me, then I'd better tell you everything you need to know about being an Exorcist and using your Innocence."

"Yes, I'm listening." Jamie responded, and began to intently focus on what Dylan would tell her.

Dylan explained everything to Jamie. He told her everything she needed to know about Innocence, specifically Parasitic ones like hers, and about the Sync rate that would increase as she used it, making it more powerful and unlocked new powers of the Innocence. He also explained about how each piece of Innocence had a prophecy tagged to it, but since they weren't going to the Order, they couldn't meet Hevlaska and find out what hers was supposed to be.

After explaining this much, Jamie asked a question. "So, what was the prophecy of your Innocence?"

Dylan stopped for a moment being asked that question. Technically, the prophecy hinted that Dylan might betray the Order, which was why he ran away in the first place; but thanks to Tina, he knew now there was no way that side of the prophecy would come true, so when telling Jamie, he omitted it. "My prophecy tells me that my Innocence will grow into a dangerous power. It told me that in the future, I would become a valuable asset of our fight against the Akuma and the Earl."

Jamie nodded, and Dylan continued his explanation. Dylan went on to explain everything about Akuma, the differences between Level 1s, 2s and 3s, and that they could be anywhere, hiding under human skin. Then he explained about the Noah, and their immense strength.

"I myself have fought a Noah." Dylan said, bringing up Tyki Mikk. "His name was Tyki Mikk, and he was much stronger than me. The only reason I'm still alive right now is because he let me go on a whim, twice in fact."

"Twice, you've fought him more than once?" Jamie questioned.

"Yes, the first time was over a year ago. The second time was just the day before I met Dr. Hoover and came to your house."

Hearing that, Jamie gasped. "So that's why you were so injuried."

"No actually, all my wounds I had gotten from fighting a Level 3 just minutes beforehand. Tyki Mikk just beat me down a little more after that and let me go on another whim." Dylan explained, but omitted the Exorcists that died. "But this time I got the better of him. I used a few nicks of my Innocence and shot them into his arm where he wouldn't even be able to notice, so now I'm tracking him with my Innocence."

"So that's what you need to do before returning to the Order." Jamie realized.

"Yes, I have to track down Tyki Mikk and defeat him before it's too late. Only then will I return to the Order, it's a promise I made myself that I must see through." Dylan said and unconsciously clenched his fist again.

Jamie noticed this, and suddenly came to a realization that Dylan did not want her to know. Dylan was searching for Tyki Mikk for reasons other than simply being enemies; she could tell that Dylan had some kind of anger trapped away inside him, a personal grudge. Tyki Mikk must have killed someone close to Dylan, and now Dylan wanted revenge.

However, Jamie was not going to bring up that she had figured this out. Dylan was going through the trouble of leaving it out because he did not want to frighten her, and she wasn't about to make him say something he didn't want to say

Interrupting her thoughts, Dylan continued speaking. "That's why I said it was too dangerous to let you come along with me in the first place. Tyki Mikk is a Noah and extremely powerful. There's no way to assure that you'd be safe coming with me when I face him because your Innocence is still undeveloped."

"I'm not worried." Jamie told Dylan confidently. "I have faith that you will protect me. I believe in you… Dylan."

Dylan looked into Jamie's eyes, which showed that she truly believed every bit of that. It was hard for Dylan to comprehend how Jamie could have such faith in a person she had only just met; but somehow, the faith she had in him managed to calm and reassure him.

"Thank you, Jamie." Dylan told the young girl, who smiled back at him. "We've got a long road ahead of us, so if you ever start to feel tired, go ahead and sleep."

"I'll be fine," Jamie told Dylan.

The continued riding the train until it came to the end of the line at sunset. Dylan still had his Innocence activated, so by looking at the sparks emanating from the blade, he could tell he was still a long ways away from finding Tyki Mikk. He sighed because of that knowledge, but lead Jamie through the streets to the next train they would take to continue their journey east.

"Hey, Dylan," Jamie got Dylan's attention. "Why do you keep your Innocence activated all the time? Doesn't that wear it out?" She asked.

Dylan had explained how Innocence would become more difficult to use after prolonged use, so Dylan having his active all through the day did seem to be a bit of a contradiction. "Not quite; though I have my Innocence activated, it's not in any active use." Dylan answered. "Because of that, only a very miniscule amount of strain is put on my Innocence while it's like this. Only while I'm morphing its shape and using its abilities in battle does it get under any sufficient stress.

"Now the reason I'm keeping it activated all this time is because it attracts the Akuma that hide in the crowd. Most Akuma don't even hesitate to attack an Exorcist when they see one, so I draw them to me by having my Innocence activated at all times. The Rose Cross on my chest also signifies that I'm an Exorcist, but I didn't have that until recently, so until then my Innocence was the only way for Akuma to distinguish me as their enemy."

"So you make the Akuma attack you? But wouldn't that really just be giving them the advantage?"

"Unfortunately, it's the way we have to fight." Dylan said. "Think about, if neither we nor the Akuma had a way to distinguish each other from a crowd, then this would be a silent war. But the real problem with that is that if we never fight the Akuma because we can't tell where they are, then their numbers are just going to become more and more overwhelming and more and more will evolve into the higher levels that become difficult for even experienced Exorcists to fight." Dylan explained all this while at the same time looking for anyone in the crowd that picked out his Innocence specifically, looking for those that might be Akuma. "And because we can't let that happen, we make ourselves stand out in the crowd, and become weary of every person that walks by us…

"…So that they will never take us by surprise." Dylan finished, making his voice deep to emphasize how crucial all of this was.

Jamie was about to say something in response, but then another voice cut in behind them. "Is that so?" A young man who had just walked between Dylan and Jamie turned and then tore off his human skin to reveal himself as a Level 2 Akuma.

The Akuma's form was much like that of a human. His face was hidden behind a pointed mask that only showed his blood-lusting smile of shark-like teeth. And his arms that he now had poised directly behind Dylan and Jamie's heads were both huge guns, the barrel being nearly the size of their heads. Jamie, who had only just learned the importance of being weary, was easily petrified when she felt the deadly weapon pressed to her skull.

"So you expected this?" The Akuma asked Dylan, believing that he had gotten them both easily.

But suddenly, without giving any sort of reply or sign of warning, Dylan's blade suddenly sprouted into numerous blades of different sizes. First, two became the size of butcher knives and severed the gun barrel arms of the Akuma so it would be incapable of firing. Immediately after, the rest of the blade thinned and pierced the Akuma's body in its head, heart, gut, and swung at its knees the severe its legs as well.

Before the Level 2 was even given a chance to change his expression in surprise, it had died. But that was not the end of it; when it was seen that the Level 2 had perished, four Level 1's exposed themselves on four different sides of Jamie and Dylan in order to surround them.

"Activate your Innocence! That in itself could mean the difference between life and death!" Dylan told Jamie, who took to action in a hurried frenzy.

"Innocence, activate!" She called out, and then her Innocence was revealed.

If Dylan had not been in the heat of battle, he would have taken the moment to marvel at Jamie's activated Innocence. In its activated state, Jamie's body began to glow with a marvelous white light as if the sun itself had been trapped inside her. That was not the only change either; after activation, Jamie's feet were lightly lifted off the ground until she floated above ground.

It was truly something to behold. For unlike other Parasitic users that Dylan had known like Suman or Sol, Jamie's Innocence did not turn one part of her body into a single-purpose weapon, but instead morphed her entire body, her very being itself, into a tool for combating Akuma.

But of course, neither one of them had a moment to think about that right now. They had four Akuma around them that needed to be taken care of, and possibly more that were still hiding in the crowd waiting for a chance to strike. "No matter what do not stop moving, if you even hear gunfire, get moving. Stall for even a second and you could die!" Dylan warned Jamie as he swung his blade at the first Level 1 before it even had the chance to fire.

Extending his blade, he cleaved the monster straight in half and then turned around. In an instant he morphed his Innocence into the form of a gun and then went beyond that to split it apart into two guns, one in each hand. This was an idea he had gotten from Tina and his dream. One weapon stood for protecting the innocent humans, and the other stood for the destruction of the Akuma who threatened them.

Firing off multiple shots from each one, they slammed hard into two of the remaining Akuma and destroyed them. It was at that time he looked to Jamie's work, but also held one gun pointed at the Akuma in front of her just in case something went wrong.

Jamie did not simply charge at the Akuma, but with her Innocence's power, she actually flew straight toward the killing machine and stretched out her hands. (I know what to do.) She thought to herself. Her Innocence was integrated with her body, and because of that connection, she understood immediately what her Innocence's powers were and how to utilize them properly in battle from the very instant she invoked it. With that knowledge, she laid her hands upon the Akuma's grotesque face and then jumped up off of its body.

But whatever it may have looked like at first, nothing had gone wrong in her attack. After she took flight above the Akuma, it could be seen that there were white marks left on the Level 1 where she had touched it. Quickly, those white marks began to spread and envelop the Level 1's body as if it were a fast spreading rash.

The Akuma was in pain from the glowing white residue of Jamie's Innocence as it tried to aim its guns at the young girl to kill her. But before it could, Jamie acted according to Dylan's instructions. She did not stay still for even a second; after the guns had positioned themselves to fire, she flew around as naturally as a bird and dived down behind the Akuma's back, placing her hand on it once more.

More white marks appeared on its shell, and they began to spread just as quickly as the first. Within seconds the Akuma's entire body was enveloped in white light. For just a second after that, it seemed like Dylan could hear a scream of pain coming from the Akuma, but after that, there was silence, because after that second, the Akuma had literally turned to dust.

For a moment, Dylan really did look at Jamie with awe. Her Innocence was both a powerful weapon and a beautiful sight. With nothing more than her touch, Jamie had managed to purify the Akuma in seconds, resulting in its demise. The surrounding people that hadn't already fled were also left with dropped jaws upon seeing everything transpire.

Jamie looked around for a moment, being cautious as Dylan had told her to be in case more Akuma were just lying in wait to attack. After a moment of nothing happening, Jamie was about to deactivate her Innocence when suddenly two more Akuma, both Level 2, cut out from their disguises and cut out in front of each Exorcist.

The one that attacked Dylan looked like a small two-legged rhino, with thick round plates of armor on its arms. And the one attacking Jamie looked more like a huge praying mantis with rounded blades for arms and wings on its back.

"Jamie, run!" Dylan shouted to Jamie. This was the very first time Jamie was using her Innocence, so she would honestly be no match for a Level 2 yet.

But as he was saying that, the Level 2 in front of him lurched itself forward to try and plunge the horn on its head into Dylan's chest, forcing his attention away from Jamie. Dylan almost fell backward over his feet as he tried to get away from the attack and then extended the barrels of his two guns toward each other so they connected into a rod that he then used to block the Akuma's horn.

In the next instant Dylan flattened the rod to make it a blade, letting go of one end and then using the blade to cut through the horn, causing the Akuma to stagger backwards. On the other end of the battle, the mantis-like Akuma swung one of its rounded blade arms at Jamie, aiming for her neck. Heading Dylan's warning as well as partly acting on instinct, Jamie suddenly burst upward into the sky using her Innocence, avoiding the Akuma's first attack.

"You're not getting away!" The Akuma warned Jamie as it flew into the air after.

Jamie was sweating from fear. Dylan had told her about the difference in the strengths of a Level 1 and Level 2, and knew that with a brand new Innocence, she really should try avoid combat with one. But she knew something about her abilities that neither Dylan nor the Akuma knew that gave her an edge, even if the Akuma was Level 2.

With that one piece of knowledge strengthening her will to fight, she flew back at the Akuma instead of running. "Stop, you need to run!" Jamie heard Dylan shout at her, but she did not stop and flew straight at the Akuma that flew back at her as well.

When the two got close to each other, the mantis Akuma swung both of its blades at Jamie to catch her from both sides. However, using the complete knowledge of her Innocence's powers and how to utilize them, Jamie set a burst of energy off at her feet, which swung her body into the air and just over the Akuma's attack. Right after that, Jamie stretched her hands down toward the Level 2 and touched its head, which immediately left white marks that began to spread over its body, although it was quite a bit slower than it had been for the Level 1.

The Akuma had been caught off guard from this, but quickly regained itself to swing an arm at her again. However, Jamie never stopped moving for a second even when she put her hands on the Akuma, so she continued to fly down and past the Akuma, avoiding the attack.

At the same time, Dylan morphed his Innocence into a hammer and pounded it on top of the rhino-like Akuma in front of him. But when he did, the Level 2 put up its round armor plated arms and took the hit without being crushed. "Nice try, my body is way too sturdy for something like this." The Akuma snickered at Dylan's attempt to crush it.

However, Dylan gritted his teeth and then sent an electric current through the metal of his Innocence that then drilled through the Level 2's entire body, electrocuting it. The Akuma was taken by surprise and screamed in pain as its metal body absorbed the electricity against its will, which soon destroyed it.

The very second the Level 2 in front of him was gone, Dylan turned his attention back to Jamie and the Level 2 attacking her. "Don't take me lightly, you may have taken out a Level 1 quickly enough with this move, but it will take a hell of a lot longer to spread over the body of a Level 2. I just have to kill you before then!" The Akuma shouted at Jamie and charged at her again as the white marks on its head had only just covered its head and starting down its neck.

Dylan reacted swiftly in order to protect Jamie by morphing his Innocence into a long rifle gun and pointed it at the Akuma, but before he pulled the trigger, Jamie moved to do something herself. Without moving from where she was, Jamie lifted her right hand to hold it toward the Akuma with her fingers ready to snap.

When she did, she smiled at the Akuma and spoke. "Who told you I needed your whole body to be covered with my light?" She asked it rhetorically, and then snapped her fingers.

When she did this, the Akuma head, which was completely covered in the light off Jamie's Innocence, was purified and reduced to dust, leaving its body behind.

Without a head, the Akuma was dead. The wings stopped flapping and a moment later the rest of the Akuma's body exploded in mid-air. Dylan was shocked beyond words. It was simply incredible that in her very first battle, Jamie managed to best a Level 2 Akuma. Her Innocence was really something special, and Dylan found that its purifying ability suited the young girl much better than any weapon Dylan could form with his Innocence ever could.

After a moment where nothing happened, Jamie deactivated her Innocence and rushed back to Dylan with a smile on her face. "Dylan, I did it!" She said.

Dylan almost missed what Jamie said due to his surprise. It seemed strange to think that Jamie was this happy after being in a life-and-death battle, but really the battle was not what she was rejoicing over. She was rejoicing because with this, she knew that she could be helpful to Dylan in the future. She also felt that maybe with this display, Dylan wouldn't have to worry about her safety quite as much, which would allow him more focus while they were in combat.

Dylan also felt some relief knowing that she could protect herself well even without his help. He took much solace in that fact, and in seeing Jamie's smile, could not help but smile himself. "You did good, Jamie." He told her, and patted her head to show approval.

After that, things died down and Dylan and Jamie got to the next train heading east, continuing their search for the Noah named Tyki Mikk.


	31. Close Behind

_31__st__ Dusk: Close Behind_

Dylan and Jamie continued to go from train to train on their way east, following the direction that Dylan's Innocence pointed him in, leading him toward Tyki Mikk. However, the two of them had now been travelling east as quickly as they were able for almost two continuous days; Dylan was in a hurry to catch Tyki, but where exactly was Tyki heading to that he had to rush himself to get to? And actually, from the still slightly weak response Dylan's Innocence was getting from the fragments in Tyki's arm, he would guess that Tyki must be even beyond the coast of China, meaning he had gone across the sea.

On their way up to where they currently were, Dylan and Jamie had to change trains five times. And, of the five times they were moving to the next train, they had encountered Akuma during four. It was a good chance for Jamie to train with her Innocence, and in fact she had done very well despite being so new at it. Maybe in the same way Dylan was being driven by his wish to exact revenge on Tyki Mikk, Jamie was being pushed to do her absolute best so she could get to the Order and see her father again.

Just then, Jamie gave a long yawn. She had been trying her best to stay awake, but she wasn't even used to exerting her body at all because her disease had made her practically bedridden. The amount of fatigue she must have felt made in very unsurprising that she was tired, even if it was only noon right now.

"You should rest. You'll need all of your strength for what lies ahead." Dylan told her.

"But we're almost at the next stop right?" Jamie noted while rubbing her eyes. "I'll be fine, I promise." She told Dylan, although it did little to ease his worries.

However, they ended up not having any time to worry about that. All of a sudden, the entire train shook violently as the driver up front must have pulled the emergency breaks for some reason. The sudden shock threw Dylan and Jamie from their seats. When they did, Dylan quickly reached over and wrapped his arms around Jamie in an instinct to protect her as they hit the ground, with Dylan cushioning Jamie's fall.

Hurriedly, Jamie got off of Dylan. "Are you alright?" She asked him to be sure, trying to ignore the still shaking train as it attempted to come to a stop.

Dylan sat up and rubbed his head as he answered. "Yeah, I'm fine. But what's going on?"

As he asked that, one of the train attendants opened the door to their room and warned them of the current situation. "Brace yourselves for impact! There's a mountain of debris out on the tracks and we won't stop before we hit it!" The man yelled, and then ran down the hall to warn anyone else before they hit.

In a hurry, Dylan and Jamie rushed over to the window and opened it up to stick their head out to see what was ahead. As others were told about the impending collision, they also stuck their heads out to see when they would need to brace for it. What they saw were huge piles of bricks, stone, blown up chunks of the earth, and what looked to be the bodies of people caught in whatever had caused the carnage.

And certainly, at the speed the train had been going when it began to break, it was not going to stop before striking the mountain of rubble. Seeing that, both Jamie and Dylan became shocked and had to wonder just what could have caused that kind of damage.

But this might not have even been the worst of the current situation, because all of a sudden, Dylan heard Jamie shout two words. "Innocence, activate!" She called out, and then began to shine with the white light of her Innocence and jumped out the window of the train.

Dylan was completely bewildered by this; and what was more, Jamie began to use her Innocence's power of flight to fly faster than the train toward the front of it. "Jamie, what are you doing!?" Dylan yelled to her.

"We have to stop the train!" She called back without stopping.

"What!?" Dylan was absolutely shocked, but saw with his own eyes when Jamie got to the front car and turned herself around, she began using the strength given to her by her Innocence to push back against the train and slightly reduce its speed.

The light of her Innocence sparked as she attempted to increase its strength to push harder, and her face was stressed and contorted from trying so hard against the heavy object pushing against her small arms.

Dylan couldn't just sit by and watch this, so acting quickly he grabbed his Innocence off the floor that was already activated and tapped it quickly to both of his feet. By doing that, he laced on plates of his Innocence to the soles of his shoes and then jumped out the window himself, and used the plates on his feet to keep him airborne like he had used them to do once when fighting Tyki Mikk in Barcelona.

Moving as fast as he could, Dylan used his Innocence to make him fly not to the front of the train, but to the back. Once he got there he turned around and began following the caboose. Then, Dylan took the main body of his Innocence and split it in two. With his Innocence like that, Dylan made both into the shape of a role with a sharp end, and then pierced them both into the back wall of the train and then flattened out the ends on the other side to keep them from slipping out.

After that, Dylan extended the poles in the opposite direction straight into the ground. And he shot them off deep into the ground and flattened them out to give more traction as the two poles were dragged violently though the ground behind the train, but making it slow down all the same.

With this, the people on the train saw what they were doing and could feel a reduction in the train's overall speed, but couldn't be sure if it would be enough to stop it before hitting the wall of debris.

Jamie continued to try and push harder against the train as it began to slow down more and more from the combined efforts of her, Dylan, and the brakes on the train. She didn't dare chance a look back at the approaching wall as it might impede the effort she was making pushing it the other way, which could make all the difference. The people in the train didn't know what to think about what Jamie and Dylan were doing, let along how they were doing, and just continued to fret over whether or not they would hit the carnage ahead of them.

The train continued to close in on the wreckage ahead of them, but as it did they could see just how much what Jamie and Dylan were doing was slowing them down, and it became more likely that they wouldn't hit the debris, or at least not hard enough to do any kind of damage. Finally, just a few feet from the debris, the train came to a complete stop. If Jamie and Dylan hadn't helped stop the train though, it would have ended up ramming into the debris in front of them at a speed probably almost 30 miles an hour. Even if they had been prepared for the crash; that sudden a jolt would have injuried most of the people inside.

Dylan had been very surprised that Jamie had reacted to try and save everyone in the train so quickly, but when he thought on it a little bit, it seemed to be only the natural reaction for here. As Dylan had seen many times already in the few days he and Jamie had been together, she was a very innocent and caring young girl that didn't look away when others were in bad situations. Her now having Innocence probably accented her desire to help others, because with it she could do much more than she ever could have before.

In fact, beforehand she had likely always been the one who was in need of help, and her disease simply made her feel helpless. Now that she didn't need constant help from others, she wanted to go out and help them.

Taking a few breaths first, Dylan took his Innocence out from the train car and out of the ground, morphing it back into the shape of a sword. "Jamie!" He shouted over to Jamie to make sure she was alright, but when he didn't get a reply, he used the plates on his feet to quickly get him down the length of the train to her.

Dylan found Jamie in front of the train with her Innocence still activated, floating right in front of the train, looking at the mountain of debris and human bodies. Once again, Dylan wondered what on earth could have caused this kind of destruction.

And then, Jamie spoke up. "Dylan, look…" She told him, pointing to the side where an arm stuck out of the rubble.

However, the arm did not look like a normal human arm. The arm was dark and oddly shaped, like it belonged to a monster. When Dylan saw this he had one thought, and it was soon confirmed by Jamie when she went to the arm and touched it. When she did, the unusual arm began to be swallowed by the light of her Innocence and then was purified into dust. The severed arm had belonged to an Akuma.

Jamie's Innocence only affected Akuma, and if it touched anything or anyone else, it did nothing. This once again had seemed to fit Jamie almost too well, because it meant her Innocence could never harm a human even on accident. Whereas Dylan's Innocence which he morphed into the shapes of weapon that could easily cut through a human's chest as well as an Akuma's skull, Jamie's Innocence could not be used for anything other than fighting Akuma.

If Jamie's Innocence had been capable of harming people and such a thing were to happen, it would have been surprising if she ended up traumatized from the event. Ergo, Jamie's Innocence couldn't have fit her personality better than it did. "…Akuma did this." Jamie stated the fact with pain in her voice.

Dylan had become all too accustomed to the sight of those that had been murdered by Akuma. But right now he was bothered because of something else. The dead bodies were crushed by the debris, and looking beyond into the city there was plenty more carnage just like it. Just the same, many of the people seemed to have odd burns over their bodies or horrid wounds that made them bleed out. However, it was the size of the incident that made Dylan stop.

The size of the destruction in this city seemed to be on the same level – actually, it seemed to be an even greater scale – than the incident of Barcelona. For carnage like this to have been carried out, a huge hoard of Akuma would have had to been attacking together as a group. But the incident of Barcelona had been an odd occurrence that Dylan still couldn't figure out. There was no logical reason he could come up with that would have called for so many Akuma to have suddenly assaulted a single city when nothing like it had ever happened before.

The only thing that set that city apart from everywhere else in the world was the number of Exorcists accumulated in the area. But the Akuma had never known the Exorcists exact movements before, so for them to suddenly know them then didn't make any sense. But now Dylan was finding that the same kind of incident had appeared to have taken place in a second place in the world, so the question again was simply: why?

The people who had been on the train had already begun to gather around the debris and many were becoming hysterical over all the dead bodies. "Jamie, let's go. We should figure out exactly what happened here. It may be extremely important." Dylan said, and Jamie nodded.

Dylan lead Jamie into the city, however, she did not deactivate her Innocence. Akuma had certainly been here, and that meant there must have been Exorcist who had destroyed them all. However, with this much death around, it was quite possible that people, in their despair, had already made contact with the Earl and turned a loved one into an Akuma as well. There was no telling how safe this area was at the moment, and so Jamie left her Innocence active for any sudden attacks.

As the two of them walked through the city, the stench of death only became stronger, and the number of mourning people increased along with it. Jamie's expression was contorted in agony and sorrow. This was the first time in her life she had been surrounded by so much sadness and death; so really it was amazing she could hold herself together at all.

They came upon a rather large group of people who were all standing in mourning clothes, giving a moment of silence to those that had died in front of a large number of small makeshift memorial graves. Dylan didn't want to interrupt their silence, and so remained quiet behind them until they finished.

Of course it wasn't long until they took notice of Jamie's glowing body, which some of them looked worried about. Jamie realized that they must have been afraid of her appearance; and after having the huge number of Akuma that seemed to have assaulted this area, it was not really surprising that they were wary of someone with an odd appearance.

Jamie looked over to Dylan, and he nodded his head to let her know it was alright to deactivate her Innocence for now. Since the Akuma that had been here were almost definitely all destroyed by Exorcists, the only ones that should be in this town were brand new Level 1's, so he would easily be able to destroy them the second they revealed their forms.

Jamie deactivated her Innocence and her feet softly touched back to the ground as her body lost its bright shine. The people began muttering to one another, although Dylan was unable to understand what they were saying due to the fact that he didn't speak a word of Chinese.

If he wanted to find out what happened here, he would have to rely on the possibility that someone here spoke English. However, before Dylan had the chance to ask if anyone there did speak English, Jamie took a step forward as spoke to them, but Dylan did not know exactly what she was saying due to the fact it was actually _in Chinese!_

When she finished whatever she had said, the group gasped like they had suddenly realized what was going on and was quite surprised by it. A man then walked up to Jamie and began speaking with Jamie in Chinese where Dylan was unable to understand what they were talking about. After exchanging for a moment though, Jamie's expression began to change into one of confusion and fear, which began to worry Dylan.

After a few minutes of the two conversing, Jamie turned to Dylan and said, "Dylan, something's wrong."

"What is it?" Dylan asked setting aside the surprise Jamie could speak Chinese to focus on the important matter.

"From what he's saying, the thing that did this to the town was actually being attacked by the Akuma that were here."

"What!?" Dylan was completely shocked to hear something like that.

"There was something else here, the way he's described it, it doesn't seem like it's the same thing as the Akuma."

"Well then what was it?"

"He said it was practically the size of a mountain and entirely white. It was flying through the air and shoot off enormous beams of some kind of energy and that that's what destroyed the city. It seems that the Akuma arrived later and began attacking it, but they were all wiped out quickly by the white monster."

"You mean something other than Exorcists destroyed Akuma!?" Dylan couldn't believe that.

"He also said there were a couple people in black that had amazing powers who managed to stop the monster." Jamie told Dylan. The two in black were likely Exorcists, but the fact that both Exorcists and Akuma were attacking the same target was more than a little bewildering. "One of the people in black somehow managed to completely disintegrate the monster, and that's how the city ended up as it is."

Dylan thought about all of this for a moment, and then asked Jamie, "Can you ask him what happened to the people in black?"

"Yes," Jamie nodded, and then turned back to the man and asked him Chinese, afterward turning back to Dylan to tell him what he said. "He said that there was a few other people in black who had the Rose Cross on their uniforms that had used a ship to sail west. Apparently, heading for Edo."

"When did this happen?" Dylan asked.

Jamie checked with the man. "Just a couple of days ago."

Now, using the limited amount of information he had on the situation, Dylan formed a plan in his head. The biggest thing at the moment for Jamie and him would be that the Exorcist who had taken care of the white monster had gone out to sea in the same direction that they would be heading. It wasn't necessarily a problem, but running into them would still end with Dylan going back to the Order before he really wanted to. However, if the Exorcist were going in the same way that Tyki was, then maybe he could actually meet up with them and they could help him kill Tyki instead, and afterward Dylan would be able to return to the Order with Jamie and the other Exorcists.

It seemed like a good plan, it favored him, Jamie, and the Exorcist's heading to Edo. Since they were already heading in that direction, it held pretty much no downside as long as Dylan accomplished the goal of killing Tyki Mikk. And Dylan liked the sound of going back to the Order sooner rather than later and getting Jamie back to Suman.

"I guess that means we're following the Exorcists that went to Edo." He told Jamie, and at that, Jamie smiled.

Just then, the man said something to Jamie and she looked at him, and after hearing whatever he said, raised her eyebrows as if she had just been clued in to something small she hadn't taken notice of. Jamie looked down and examined her clothes and Dylan wondered what the man had said.

Catching sight of Dylan's confused look, Jamie explained. "He said he noticed our clothes were quite dirty and worn out, and offered to supply us with some new ones."

When Jamie told him that, Dylan looked down at himself and realized just how messed up his clothes were. The last two days of continuous travel and the many battles he and Jamie had been through on their way here had evidentially taken their toll. Dylan had been used to going around in tattered clothing for a long time, so he never actually took any notice. But of course with it being pointed out to him, he realized just how bad his appearance was, and that getting some new clothing would likely be a good idea, so he nodded to the man to accept his offer.

The man, Hong Ruan, lead them to his house where he showed them to two rooms they could pick clothes out from for each of them. Dylan basically just took the first things he found, which was a thick, dull grey button-up shirt and a pair of dark pants with a brown belt. After picking out the clothes, he waited outside the room Jamie was changing in.

"That was a bit of a surprise. When did you learn to speak Chinese?" Dylan asked Jamie through the door.

"Well, most of my life I was almost always sitting in my bed 24 hours a day, so I was always looking for something to occupy my time." Jamie answered from inside. "In addition to my German and English, I can also speak Chinese, French, Spanish, and Italian."

"Impressive," Dylan noted. He had been in Spain for a while up until the Barcelona incident, but there were many people there that spoke English since Spain and England were right next to each other and they got a lot of English tourists, so he never had to worry about it. "So what exactly did you tell those people at first?"

"I told them we were members of the Black Order and pointed out your Rose Cross to confirm it. Then I just asked about how the city had been destroyed. As they saw us as representatives of the Vatican, they were ready to tell us anything we needed to know." Jamie told Dylan, and then opened up the door and looked over at Dylan, and then smiled at him before stepping out completely. "How do I look?" She asked.

Jamie was wearing a light blue shirt with long sleeves and had an open neck that showed off the small cross appendage of her Parasitic Innocence at the base of her neck. In addition, she wore a plaid skirt that ended in frills halfway past her knees that used primarily the same light blue as her shirt along with stripes white and grey. Lastly, she had black 1-inch heels and a white band holding her hair back.

Dylan had just thrown a few things on without really caring about how he looked, but Jamie had obviously taken time to look through the clothes and find things she liked. Looking at her, Dylan gave her a smile and said, "You look lovely, Jamie."

"Thank you," Jamie said, blushing slightly from the unexpectedly grand compliment. "You look quite handsome as well." She added, returning an equally grand compliment to Dylan.

"Well then, it's a long way to Edo; shall we get going?" Dylan asked Jamie, who nodded with a smile and followed him downstairs.

Jamie thanked the Hong Ruan for his cooperation and generosity in Chinese before they left and continued on to find a way to get across the sea to Edo, where the Exorcist were also heading, and where Dylan would find Tyki Mikk.


	32. Across the Sea

_32__nd__ Dusk: Across the Sea_

Dylan and Jamie arrived at the harbor that they would need to sail across to get to Edo. However, upon arrival, they found that it, along with every ship docked, had been completely destroyed. Jamie asked around a bit to see if it had been the white monster's doing, but was told that the Akuma had apparently destroyed the harbor on their way to attack the white monster because the Exorcists were there.

When they were told this, Dylan told Jamie to ask the people how the Exorcist then managed to leave for Edo if all the ships had been destroyed. After Jamie completed her inquiry, she translated to Dylan. "It seems that another Exorcist showed up after the incident who was able to repair a ship in an instant using their Innocence."

"I see, that makes sense." Dylan said, looking out across the sea.

"Well, now we need to figure out some way to get across. Unlike the earlier Exorcists, we don't have a method to quickly repair a ship, and it would take days to do so normally." Jamie noted. "I might be able to use my own Innocence to fly across the sea-"

"No," Dylan interrupted. "With your Innocence still developing, you would likely only wear it out before we even arrived in Edo." He explained, and then held out his Innocence as he gave his own solution. "We'll use my Innocence instead."

At first Jamie was confused about what Dylan intended to do, but once he showed her it was simple to understand. At the shoreline going into the sea facing Edo, Dylan placed his Innocence at the water's edge and began expanding its shape. Due to the size of what he was making, he had to spread the metal fairly thin in order to fully make it. The form Dylan had changed his Innocence into was that of a rowboat with enough space to accommodate the two of them.

It was a way across the sea, but with that said, Jamie wasn't sure it would be a very fast one. With only something like this, it would probably be much faster to wait for one of the ships to be repaired, but Dylan quickly explained his plan. "With my power over the motion and direction of my Innocence, I can move this rowboat many times faster than any ship would be able to carry us. All we would really need is provisions for a couple of days to get us to Edo using this."

With the plan fully explained Jamie smiled, glad they might be meeting other Exorcists and going to the Order, where her father was. Then, she went and requested the people at the dock prepare them with the amount of food and water they would need. Once they had it, Dylan and Jamie got into the rowboat, and then Dylan began making his Innocence crafted boat along the water, starting out slowly, but speeding up gradually until they were moving faster than even the trains did.

At that speed, the wind was blowing their hair back and the water was being cut through as the boat's bow split it at the high speed lifting it at the sides and some times sending a spray of sea water in their faces. While they continued through the sea, Dylan spoke up to Jamie. "So Jamie, how long ago did you say the Exorcists left for Edo?"

"It was only two days ago, today would be their third day at sea." Jamie answered. "Why?"

"Well, I was just thinking that using a regular ship, it would probably take them about five days to get to Edo. Using my Innocence, if I build up the speed enough, I should be able to get us there in just two, maybe even a little faster. So if this is only the Exorcist's third day at sea, then we should end up reaching Edo about the same time, give or take a few hours." Dylan explained. "If we're intending to meet up with them in Edo to help each other, then that's the best timing we could have hoped for."

"Well then that's great." Jamie responded, but then she followed it with a yawn.

When she did, Dylan remembered that she had seemed pretty tired back on the train when they first arrived at the city. "Hey, you should go ahead and get some sleep now. It'll be important for you to be at full-strength once we reach Edo. We have no idea what we'll find once we get there, but we know that Exorcists were sent by the Black Order to go there for some reason. We can definitely expect some Akuma."

"But what about you?" Jamie asked. "You said we'll be at sea for two days right? So doesn't that mean you can't sleep for that time in order to keep your Innocence activated?"

Jamie was right, Innocence couldn't be invoked while its Accommodator was asleep, so in order to use his own Innocence as a means of travel to Edo, we would have to remain asleep for the entire two day trip. "You don't have to worry about me, I'm a lot more used to staying up for long periods of time than you are. You just need to worry about yourself."

"I keep telling you Dylan, I'll be fi~" Jamie was saying, but was cut off when she began to yawn again in the middle of it. "~fine." She finished after the yawn and smiled loosely at Dylan.

However, when she did this, Dylan suddenly realized something was wrong. He examined Jamie's face more closely and noticed that bags had formed under her eyes. Noticing this, he suddenly became worried about something. "Jamie... just when was the last time you slept?" He asked her, his face and voice ridden with worry and surprise.

"Huh, when?" Jamie seemed like she had been taken off guard by the question, and it was right then that Dylan remembered; He had told Jamie that she should try getting sleep if she ever felt tired when they first left her hometown, and again during their arrival to the last city in China. However, both those times and now, she had told him that she would be fine, and did not sleep.

"Jamie," Dylan said, now becoming more serious in his worries. "When was the last time you got any sleep?" He asked her again, this time more as a command to be told.

"Oh, um, it was..." Jamie stuttered as she tried to think of an answer.

But Dylan had already realized it without being told. Jamie had not taken a wink of sleep since the two of them had set out together after she first got her Innocence and followed him on his quest to kill Tyki Mikk. "Jamie, why haven't you been sleeping at all?" He ordered an answer with his tone. It was at that point he remembered. "Does this have something to do with that dream you had of Suman?"

The morning after Dylan first arrived at Jamie's house, he had found the Innocence fragment that was reacting to her, and then when he went to her room, overheard her tell Doctor Hoover about a dream she had concerning her father, and asked if he was still in this world, asking if he had died?

However, Jamie quickly tried to reject Dylan's thought. "No, no, that's not it!" She said, waving her hands in front of her while shaking her head in denial.

"Jamie!" Dylan shouted, causing her to flinch and stop. "What is wrong?" He asked sternly.

Finally, Jamie gave in and lowered her arm to her lap while dropping her head in sorrow. "I'm afraid..." She admitted. "I'm afraid that if I go to sleep, I'll have that dream again." She told Dylan, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks and fall to her hands. "It's already hard enough worrying about papa now, but that dream made me feel so much that he had died." She explained through tears. "I don't want to feel that pain again, so I haven't been sleeping."

Hearing her reasons, Dylan sighed. When his dreams first began, he had been scared as well. Each time he had the dream, it made him feel more and more certain that he was going to betray the Order. One time, when his dream had woken him up in the middle of the night, he had gone to Hevlaska on his own to ask her if she could tell him anything more about his prophecy, although she had been unable to supply him with any answers. Because of that, he understood exactly where Jamie was coming from. The pain of feeling that something horrible had or would happen in your soul without anyway to know if it was true of not drove him crazy to such an extent he fled the Order.

If Jamie did go to sleep and have that dream a second time, Dylan wasn't sure if she would be able to take it. But that didn't mean it was better to not sleep at all. "Jamie..." He said, getting her to bring her head up and look at him. "You can't just not sleep, it isn't healthy from you. Believe me when I tell you I understand what you're going through, but you have to trust me when I say you can't just avoid it forever.

"You need to sleep. If you have the dream of your father again, just tell me about it, talking about it may help ease your worry." Dylan told her. While he was having his dream, he had never told anyone about it. Looking back on it now, he wondered how things might have turned out differently if he had shared it with his friends. Would his troubles have been eased enough to assure him he was safe there and not have left in the first place? He had no way to know the answer to that, but he had to hope it would be enough for Jamie.

With tears still rolling down her cheeks, Jamie sniffled as she looked at Dylan. "But..."

"No buts Jamie. You need to rest." Dylan said with a caring tone.

Jamie lowered her eyes again and sniffled with her tears, but after a second she took her sleeve and wiped away the tears from her eyes and looked at Dylan again. "Alright," She said, accepting what Dylan was saying.

"Good, now come here." Dylan told her, waving her closer to him. She moved closer to him and then rested her head on his lap, closing her eyes. "There you go. Just try and sleep peacefully, and when you wake up we'll eat some food together." Dylan told her and then stroked her hair softly to calm her.

When he did this, Jamie smiled softly and spoke to Dylan. "Thank you. You know what, I feel like you're the older brother I never had." She told him without opening her eyes, and soon after that was out like a light.

It kind of surprised Dylan to hear her say that, but it made perfect sense. He had a big hand in helping raise his younger sister back home, so he always been that responsible older brother for her. Unconsciously, Dylan had been acting almost the same way with Jamie since she was so young. After the moment of surprise wore off, Dylan smiled down at Jamie kindly, and continued stroking her hair while continuing their journey toward Edo.

When Jamie awoke from he slumber, the moon was drifting downward, but still high in the sky. When she woke, she sat up and stretched her arms up, giving a well-rested yawn as she tried to get herself fully awake. "Well, sounds like you slept well." Dylan said, causing her to turn and look at him.

Once she registered everything about before she fell asleep, she smiled and nodded to Dylan. "Yep, no dreams this time."

"That's good." Dylan was glad.

"Thank you, Dylan."

"Don't mention it; now how about we eat?"

Dylan picked some of the food up off the floor of the boat and handed some to Jamie for them to share. They were given some bread as well as some fruits or vegetables along with a couple bottles of water that the people in the city had offered. The two of them enjoyed their meal together and each others company; in the short time they knew each other, they two of them had become quite close.

As Jamie had said, they really did seem like a brother and sister, just being together like this. It was peaceful, nothing like it would be once they arrived in Edo for sure. But for right now they had nothing to worry about; no Akuma, no danger, nothing they had to occupy themselves with until their arrival, and so they could take the time to truly be carefree for a change. At least for the moment.

The two were lucky to even get a single night like that, as another may not come again for a very long time, but the when the sun had risen half-way over the horizon, they were given something new to make them worry. When they caught sight of it, Dylan slowed down his Innocence boat to take it all in, as well as Jamie.

What they had come across were remains, the remains of a ship, one they could only assume was the one the Exorcists they were following had been sailing toward Edo on. In shock, Dylan voiced a question. "What... is this?"

As Dylan asked this, he continued to move the boat slowly through the wreckage. However, as he continued on, he began to see more than just would, metal and ripped sails. littered across the water, floating on top of chunks of wood, were pieces of clothing, but no body in sight. As he past by a piece of wood with a soaked shirt on it, Dylan picked it up and shifted through it, finding clumps of soggy ash stuck to the cloth.

"Akuma? All the way out here?" Jamie questioned, looking around like they still might be somewhere nearby. "But... why would an Akuma be out in the middle of the sea? There wouldn't be any people for them to kill." She said, as if trying to convince herself that she wasn't seeing the scene before her.

"You're right, it doesn't make any sense of an Akuma to be all the way out here at sea." Dylan said, clenching the shirt he held in his hand. "Unless of course it was guarding something."

"G-guarding something? Like what?"

"I don't have the slightest idea. But whatever it is, it's in Edo." Dylan said, looking across the water toward where their destination was. "The Exorcist ahead of us were heading for Edo, whatever the Akuma were guarding must be there."

"But then... what happened to the Exorcists?" Jamie asked, worried about what the answer might be.

Before giving any kind of answer, Dylan stood up and looked around the wreckage. "I can't say for sure, but I don't see anything that looks like a Black Order uniform from here. And in any case, if the Akuma that were guarding this place were still alive, they'd have attacked us by now. If we go off that information, we can likely assume that the Exorcists that were here managed to win and continue on." Dylan inferred, hoping maybe the information that the Exorcists survived would lift Jamie's spirits, if only a little.

Looking back at her, he saw that it truly did very little to ease her sorrow at the scene. She was too innocent a girl to not feel sadness for the people who had been killed here, even if she had no idea who they even were and had never met of sen them before in her life, she could not help but feel sad for their deaths.

Dylan, of course, was not without remorse. As someone who wanted to protect humans from the evil of the Akuma, he was pained by the stroke of death that had failed to be stopped. Slowly, Dylan bent down and placed the shirt in his hand on the waters surface, letting it go and slowly sink into the ocean as he offered the fallen a prayer of regret, as Jamie did the same.

Just then, something gleamed, shining reflected sunlight into Jamie's eye. She blinked and squinted, putting her hand up and trying to find the source of the light. Not too far away, she saw something very small resting on a board of broken wood, shining gold with the morning sunlight. "What's that?" She asked, the small object making her curious.

Dylan moved over to the board with the object and Jamie picked it up off the board, examining it in her hand. The object was some kind of golden ring; although it was a bit large for the fingers of a hand. "Something like this... it seems special somehow." Jamie said, looking down at the accessory with a sad look.

"It may have been special to its owner." Dylan said, attempting to somehow comfort Jamie. "If you believe so, then perhaps it was."

Jamie continued to look at the shining object in her hand for a moment, and took it with her right hand to place it on the thumb of her left hand, and then wrapped her hands around each other tightly, giving a few tears through grief shut eyes. "I will remember you all. I'm sorry that you had to die, and thank you for helping the Black Order." She spoke to the deceased people, and then gave a heavy sigh, wiping away her tears and sitting back down in the boat. "Alright, let's go." Jamie told Dylan.

"Right," Dylan replied, and turned back to face their destination that they would soon be able to see along the horizon.

They would arrive in Edo before the next morning, and there they would find the Exorcists, and the Noah Tyki Mikk. As Dylan thought of the possibility of returning to the Order, he found himself truly hoping it would be, he hoped that the events that would take place in Edo would mark the end of his journey as the 'Rogue Exorcist'.

* * *

**AN: I would just like to give a special shout out to a certain user: bamafelix, because he messaged me asking about when my next chapter would be updated. Because he asked, it gave me the drive I needed to write, and completed the barely begun chapter in a single day. So a note to the rest of my fans, if any of you ever feel that my updates are beginning to take to long, do not hesitate to call me out on it, because it may be just what I need to get my creative juices flowing.**

**Thank you bamafelix, this one's for you.  
**


	33. So We Meet Again

_33rd Dusk: So We Meet Again_

Dylan increased the speed of his Innocence boat. At long last, he and Jamie could see Edo nearby. However, as soon as they got close enough, they saw something that troubled them greatly. Within Edo, a dark cloud was gathering in a circle, as if being clumped together in the sky. However, it was not any simply cloud, Dylan could tell, even from that distance, what that cloud was made of.

They were Akuma. And not just any Akuma either, from what Dylan could see, almost every single one of the Akuma in that impossibly huge cloud was a _Level 3_.

"No way..." He muttered in terror.

He had fought a Level 3 only once before. At that time, he also had the assistance of Tina, Sol, and Gwen. Four Exorcists had come together and fought against a single Level 3 Akuma, and even with that, only he had managed to make it out alive. And now before him, he was looking at thousands upon thousands of those just as powerful Level 3's that collected at a single location in Edo.

"So many Level 3's... is it even possible?" He asked himself.

"What, those are all Level 3!?" Jamie asked in shock when she overheard that statement. "Dylan... How are we going to fight that many Akuma at once? And what about the Exorcists that are there already?" She wondered.

Dylan had told her about how strong the Level 3 he fought had been and seen with her own eyes just how much damage he had sustained from the battle. And if just one Level 3 was strong enough to do that much to Dylan, did she even stand a chance in her current state; even with her Innocence's special properties.

"I don't know. I don't know but-" Dylan said but stopped himself from continuing.

Dylan's thoughts swirled around in his head. His immediate thoughts landed to the Exorcists already in Edo, who were all facing that terror of Level 3's head on. He had no idea how many Exorcists had been dispatched to come to Edo, or even if this mess here was actually what they had been originally sent to take care of or if they got caught in the center of something greater. But no matter how impossible this battle in front of them seemed, Dylan couldn't help himself from thinking about the safety of all the Exorcists there, and if he might be able to help save them if he went.

However, although that was indeed his primary concern, it was not his only concern. If he paid attention to his Innocence at his feet he could tell in a second that Tyki Mikk was definitely there in Edo as well. The person that Dylan hated more than anything else in this world was so close at hand, and looking at the number of Akuma, he no longer thought it was any form of coincidence that Tyki had come to this place after leaving Barcelona.

But even if Dylan found Tyki now, there was no guarantee that he could get to him before having to go through numerous Level 3's and then there would be an even smaller chance that he would be able to defeat Tyki in the state he would be left in afterward, and that was assuming he lived that long at all.

And even after before thinking about that, his own safety was not what should be Dylan's priority; it was Jamie's. Jamie was a fresh out of the oven Exorcist whom didn't even have a weeks experience with her Innocence, even less if you only counted the time she had actually spent in combat. If Dylan were to take all of this into consideration, he had only two choices before him. He could either do what was best and turn around now, getting away from Edo before he got Jamie sucked into something she had less than a tenth of a percent chance of surviving or he could do what his heart was telling him was the right thing to do and continue forward, find the Exorcists and fight with them to the best of his ability and hope that with them all working together they could all escape death.

Even at the moment the two options had landed in his head, he felt like he knew which one he would chose no matter what he might have thought. But if any more convincing was even necessary, Jamie spoke up behind him.

"We can't just leave them all there to die." She told Dylan, who looked back at her. By now, Jamie's far too kind-hearted nature should have stopped surprising him, but due to the overwhelming circumstances that she was facing, it still seemed impossible to comprehend. "Dylan, we have to go help them!" She said with determination.

Going to help the Exorcist was already the decision Dylan felt he would make, even if he knew that it was a bad choice for the two of them, neither he or Jamie would be able to leave them with a clean consciousness if they turned around now. Because they both knew that, Dylan did not argue with Jamie and just nodded, turning back to Edo and speeding towards its shore even faster than before.

But by the time they arrived on shore, a new development had taken place that blew everything beforehand out of the water. The incredible hoard of Level 3 Akuma began meshing with one another and combining to create two horrendously huge Akuma monsters that began fighting with the Exorcists below that the two of them could not see from where they were.

"Come on, we've got to hurry if we're going to make it in time." Dylan told Jamie as he morphed his Innocence back into the shape of a sword.

Jamie nodded her head in agreement and then spoke up. "Innocence, activate..." She invoked her Innocence, causing her body to light up with power and float about the ground. "Angel's Storm!" She called out afterward, giving her Innocence a name she felt fit its powers.

Indeed, the word 'Angel' seemed to be a perfect fit for the heavenly light that radiated from her body, and the purification that the light brought. At that point, the two of them moved forward, climbing stairs carved into the landscape to reach their destination.

The reached the top of the stairs and started turning to the left, but when they did Dylan noticed something that caused him to grab Jamie and duck down behind the cover of a large boulder and many trees and bushes. Dylan put his hand over Jamie's mouth to keep her from shouting in surprised and used his other hand to put finger in front of his lips, signaling her to be quiet.

What Dylan had noticed was a pair of Level 3 Akuma moving in their direction. He knew that was what they were here to fight, but actually getting to the Exorcists came before any fighting, as it would increase everyone's chances of survival the faster they reached them. Luckily, the cover around them formed by nature was enough to keep the light of Jamie's Innocence from being seen, so at least they wouldn't be given away from that.

The Akuma were moving fast as if they were in a hurry, but since all the Exorcists should have been where the giant Akuma were, he couldn't imagine what they were in such a rush for. However, whether lucky or unlucky, he did not have to imagine, because one of the Akuma voiced what their mission was.

"Yes," It started, a laugh coiled in with its words. "The Earl still wants the Generals in Edo found! Imagine the praise we'll get if we find them first." He said, apparently trying to encourage the other Akuma at its side to try harder.

But when Dylan heard what it was trying to do, he froze. That Level 3 just said that there were Generals here in Edo, and that the Earl wanted them found. He wasn't sure why these Generals weren't with the band of Exorcists fighting the giant Akuma already, but what mattered was the fact that they were here, and it was more than just one. Multiple Generals were currently somewhere in Edo and they had a number of Level 3 Akuma hunting them down.

Dylan recalled that in Barcelona he had overheard Tina, Sol, and Gwen talking about how the Exorcists were being sent out to find and guard the Generals. He had never figured out why, and so now had to wonder if this now had anything to do with it.

But now Dylan had a new question to think about. Should he continue on to the Exorcists battling the huge Akuma or should he stop the Level 3's that were searching for the Generals? He had to decide on this quickly before the Level 3's there left, and because of that hurry to choose, he wasn't sure if his decision was the right one.

"Jamie, do not come out of hiding no matter what." Dylan warned Jamie, stressing the order as one to be followed explicitly, without argument.

Once he had said this, he took his Innocence and ran out from where he was hiding, leaving Jamie to worry about what he planned to do. Dylan stretched the blade of his Innocence as he swung it down on one of the Akuma and sent an electrical current through it. Taking the Level 3 completely by surprise, Dylan cut deep into one of the Level 3's and applied the electrical current to shock it, and destroy it.

Ding this of course let the other Akuma know he was there, but it was completely taken by surprise and was turning to try and get a look at what happened. Dylan wasted no time and swung his extended blade to the side at the remaining Akuma, hoping to destroy it before it had a chance to attack.

However, Dylan did not get that lucky twice. Suddenly, upon realizing what was happening, the Level 3 Akuma glowed in a dark light and in an instant, ran to the side and avoided Dylan's sword. But the Akuma's speed had not been natural, it had been enhanced by the Level 3's special ability. But Dylan didn't stop just because of that and morphed his Innocence into the shape of a shotgun and fired twice.

But now that the knew what was going on and could process everything, it was not caught as easily as the first. Using it's Dark Matter enhanced speed, the Level 3 ran out of the way of Dylan's bullets and got behind him in a second. "Damn Exorcist!" The Akuma cursed Dylan and swung it's arm at him.

But the moment the Level 3 made to attack, Dylan jumped up and surprisingly ended up almost 20 feet in the air. The cause had been that he already put plates of his Innocence at his feet once they had landed, knowing it might come in handy against the Level 3 monsters when he arrived to help the Exorcists. Even if Dylan couldn't control himself in mid-air very well with just the plates on his feet, they were a great way to use a burst of speed to avoid attacks.

Now above the Level 3, Dylan aimed his shotgun down at it again and fired. "Damn Akuma!" Dylan returned the Level 3's curse as he shot.

But then, the Level 3 used his speed and run backward and out of the way, and the scattershot bullets all hit the ground. However, Dylan had anticipated this and his first two set of bullets where now flying back at the Level 3. Unfortunately, the Level 3 noticed the bullet beginning their way back at him and jumped into the air and got right up to Dylan. From here, the Level 3 swung its body around and slammed its foot into Dylan's gut, throwing him down toward the ground, although he stopped himself short using the plates at his feet.

Meanwhile, Jamie watched from her hiding place and grimaced. Dylan had told her to stay put because he knew that she would be no match for a Level 3, even with her special Parasitic Innocence. However, even if she was told to stay put, Jamie did not intend to just sit by and watch as Dylan fought. So instead she was bidding her time, watching and waiting for a moment that the Level 3 was completely open so she could surprise it. If she could catch it by surprise and grab its head, it shouldn't matter that the Akuma was Level 3, she could snap her fingers, purify the Akuma's head, and effectually destroy it by decapitation. And so she watch and waited for her opportunity to strike.

Dylan gripped his Innocence with both hands and separated it into two weapons, one that he morphed into a spear, and the other into a shield. Immediately after, he had the bullets he had shot return to his Innocence's main body and landed on the ground, waiting for the Level 3 to make the next move. The Level 3 floated in the air and watched Dylan, and then when it saw he was waiting, scoffed at him and sped down at him with a kick.

"Don't get cocky Exorcist!" The Level 3 warned Dylan as it slammed its foot into Dylan's shield.

Dylan held his ground, but due to the overwhelming speed with which the Akuma had rocketed into it, Dylan was pushed backward several meters, his feet digging into the ground. But the Akuma had done just what Dylan wanted it to do, and at that time sent a strong electrical current through his Innocence shield that then tore through the Akuma's body, causing it to scream in pain. At the same time, Dylan stabbed the spear he held in his other hand forward at the Akuma's chest.

But the Level 3 saw this and fought through the pain of the shocks in order to leap off of Dylan's shield and speed away. However, Dylan had also expected this and immediately extended the length of his spear to have it go after the Level 3 which was caught off guard. In a desperate attempt to get away in time, the Level 3 jumped to the side and rolled back to its feet with the intention of charging Dylan once more. However, at that moment, something happened that neither the Akuma nor Dylan had expected.

Suddenly, a pair of glowing white hand reached out and grabbed onto the Level 3 Akuma's head from behind. Jamie had gotten her opportunity to surprise the Level 3 and took it without hesitation, and gripped the Level 3's head to pour her purifying light all over its head, which she would then snap her fingers and destroy the Akuma.

"Jamie!" Dylan shouted at her to stay back even though it was already too late.

Jamie was about to let go of the Level 3's head and activate her power, but before she could the powerful Akuma reacted with a reflex from the surprise of being attacked from behind. Using it's amazing speed, the Level 3 swung its body around and slashed its fingers into Jamie's side like a blade. How this also caused its fingers to be bathed in the purification light of Jamie's Innocence, she was not unscathed by the attack.

Jamie now had a serious injury at her side and fell to the ground. However, in her unbelievable determination and will, she still found the strength to move her right hand and snap her fingers. At that moment, the light over the Level 3's head and fingers sent a spike of pain through them as it purified it and was thrown backward. Jamie's body hit the ground and she gripped her injury in pain, but was satisfied that the Level 3 was no longer a problem.

"That..." However, even though Jamie had used her Innocence's power to purify the head of the Level 3 Akuma, she heard a voice that obviously did not belong to a human being. "..._really_ stings; you brat."

As those words reverberated in Jamie's ears, she looked over at the Level 3's body and saw it move to get up. When the Akuma's head came into her view again, Jamie saw that it in fact had not been purified completely. Instead, it looked like the top portion of its head had been melted off, leaving in view an odd image of what she assumed must have been its face, or maybe even its skull.

Evidentially, Jamie's Innocence was simply too weak at this point in time to be capable of fully purifying a Level 3 at such a early point in the process. Maybe if she had had the time to wait for the purification process to spread more over the Level 3's body, it would have worked, but even when she used her power against a Level 2, the process was very slow. Againt a Level 3, it would have been crawling across its body slower than a snail.

Worse, because Jamie's surprise attack had annoyed the Level 3 so much, the deadly strong Akuma was now targeting her, and used it's speed to get back to its feet and race toward her, preparing its hand to stab into Jamie's skull. However, just as the Level 3 was about to do this, it was struck from behind by something large and heavy that smashed it away from Jamie and then pinned it to the ground, The item in question was Dylan's shield that he controlled to keep the Akuma away from Jamie, and then had the shield expand more to latch itself into the ground and keep the Akuma pinned tight to the ground and keep it from using its speed.

Dylan had once fought against a Level 2 Akuma with the same kind of speed, so he knew how it needed to be dealt with. With the Level 3 pinned under his Innocence, Dylan electrocuted it and had spikes form from the shield that then stabbed into the Akuma at multiple spots, and destroyed it.

Once the Akuma was dead, Dylan ran to Jamie's side who was still clutching her injury. "Jamie! Are you alright?" He asked her hurriedly.

"Y-yes," Jamie replied, although she didn't sound alright at all. "I'm sorry, I couldn't just sit by and watch you fight while I did nothing." She told Dylan, apologizing for not listening to him.

But it made sense to Dylan that Jamie, who before gaining Innocence could do nothing on her own and had to rely on help from others to do just about everything in her day-to-day life, could not bare with the idea of sitting on the sidelines and let others do all the work when she now had the power to help, no matter how miniscule that help might have been.

But the problem now was that with Jamie's injury, it would be almost impossible for her to fight at all, and Jamie's safety had to come before anything and everything else in Dylan's priorities, even finding and killing Tyki Mikk. If Jamie was in no shape to fight anymore, and her Innocence was simply not powerful enough to destroy a Level 3 even through the quick means it possessed when Edo was full of them, it became clear to Dylan that his best and only choice in order to keep her safe was to flee right now.

But before Dylan could make up his mind on whether or not to do this, he heard a voice call him from behind somewhere. "Psst, hey!" The voice was hushed, like whoever was speaking was trying to make sure no one else heard him.

Reacting like it might have been another Akuma even if its way of getting attention seemed odd, Dylan turned and pointed his spear in the direction of the voice, extending the tip toward its owner, but stopped just before the tip of the spear blade cut his throat. The only reason Dylan had stopped his Innocence from kill the person he saw was because it was in fact a person.

The man looked almost 30 years old and was wearing odd, lightly colored robes Dylan would have to assume was simply the clothing style for Edo people. He had dark brown hair tied behind his head in some kind of pony tail and his chin was covered in stubble. Dylan had nothing to say this man was not an Akuma, but given the current situation, an Akuma trying to hide itself by using its human disguise seemed awfully redundant, so Dylan gave the man the benefit of the doubt, but did not drop his weapon.

"Who are you!?" Dylan demanded an answer from the man, who he noticed did not seem fazed by Dylan's weapon at his throat, either because he was an Akuma, or due to the number of Akuma here, had long since abandoned fear.

"My name is Sanzo; I'm on your side." The man told Dylan. "Do you know General Marian Cross?"

At Sanzo's question, Dylan stopped for a moment. As it so happened, Dylan had met the General this man spoke of once before, about a year after leaving the Order. That General had asked him a series of questions regarding him, his Innocence, and his situation with the Order and why he wasn't with them. Thankfully, That General had seemed to understand Dylan's desire to stay away, and did not force him into anything, and they had then parted ways.

This now was the first time Dylan had heard anything of General Marian Cross since the day they met, which then brought up the question of how this man before him was connected to the General. "How do you know the General?" Dylan asked Sanzo, still wary of him.

"I am his subordinate. He wishes to speak with you; you are Dylan correct?" Sanzo questioned, which surprised Dylan greatly, but also made him certain this man was telling the truth.

Unless Sanzo was affiliated with the Order, there should have been no way he knew his name, which meant his story of being a subordinate of General Cross must have been true. Even more convincing, the man was not trying to learn of Cross' whereabouts from Dylan, thinking as an Exorcist he might now, but was instead saying he would lead Dylan to him. If Sanzo were an Akuma in disquise, there would be no point to any of this and would have much more likely just attacked Dylan while he wasn't paying attention, and so Dylan decided to trust him for now.

"We don't have much time, more Akuma will be here any moment." Sanzo warned Dylan, who finally retracted his Innocence, retrieved his shield to merge the two halves back together, and then tried to help Jamie to her feet.

"Jamie, can you stand?" He asked her.

Jamie opened her eyes and looked at Dylan while appearing to have trouble breathing. "I... think so." She told Dylan, but as she attempted to get to her feet, her injury caused her pain and she fell back down. "I'm sorry." She said to Dylan, feeling like she had become a burden.

"It's alright," Dylan told her, and then picked her up and began to carry her toward Sanzo. "Where is Cross?"

"Follow me." Sanzo told Dylan, and began leading him through the wilderness of Edo.

"So why does General Cross want to speak to me? How did he even know I was here?" Dylan asked, still not completely understand what was going on.

"I saw you begin to fend off the Akuma with your Innocence, but since you didn't wear the Order uniform, I was unsure how to proceed. So I went back to Master Cross and told him about it. He recognized the description I gave of your Innocence and requested I bring you to him. I don't know exactly why."

"So how-" Dylan began, but stopped when Sanzo suddenly held his arm out in front of him, coming to a sudden halt before going out to a road,

"Keep quiet and hold your breathe." Sanzo whispered back to Dylan.

Dylan did as instructed and looked around for any sign of something wrong, but it wasn't until a moment later that a group of Level 3 Akuma came running by looking for the Generals, but thanks to Sanzo warning them, the Akuma did not notice them and went straight past them.

Once the Akuma had gotten out of view, Sanzo began running again and Dylan followed. After a few minutes of running around, Sanzo came to a stop at a clearing that had only a small building there. Confused, Dylan looked over at Sanzo suspiciously.

However, then Sanzo spoke toward the empty house. "Master Cross, I've brought sir Dylan as requested."

When Sanzo said this, the area around the small house changed to reveal the presence of a person and a number of chicken. The person that was revealed was General Cross Marian, who at the moment was sitting on the patio with a cigarette in his mouth and a glass of wine in his hand.

Dylan was a bit surprised that Sanzo had actually been telling the truth even though he had deemed it safe to do, and looked at General Cross Marian with nervousness and anticipation for why he had wanted to see him. And then, as Cross looked up and locked his eyes with Dylan's, the General spoke. "So, Dylan, we meet again."


	34. Priorities

_34th Dusk: Priorities_

"So, Dylan, we meet again." General Marian Cross spoke calmly to Dylan, as if it were the most natural occurrence.

Composing himself, Dylan replied, "I guess it has, why did you want to see me." He asked.

In response though, Cross held up his hand as if to say stop there. "First things first, we must tend to the young lass." He said, pointing to the injured Jamie in Dylan's arms. "Come bring her over here. Sanzo, get some first-aid supplies from inside."

"Yes, Master." Sanzo bowed to Cross and went inside the small house.

Dylan brought Jamie to the porch and set her against a wall, looking at her wound. "It doesn't look fatal, that's good." General Cross said, looking at Jamie as well. "First, we'll need to disinfect it." He said, and then took one of the many bottles of alcohol he had and held it to Jamie's wound, slowly pouring it over the injury.

Jamie cringed a bit from the stink of the alcohol on her open wound, but bared through it as Sanzo came out with the medical supplies. "Jamie, are you alright?" Dylan asked.

Jamie in response looked at Dylan. "I'm fine. It was just a bit of a shock." She told him.

It made sense, for Jamie, this was the first major injury she had in her life that went beyond scraps, bruises, or small cuts. Because of that, her threshold for pain was likely much lower than someone's like Dylan's who has been exposed to pain on a regular basis. "Okay then," General Cross spoke. "Sanzo here is going to treat you little lady. But I'm going to need you to deactivate your Innocence while he does."

"What?" Dylan interjected. "Why would she do that?"

"It's alright, my Innocence can only harm Akuma." Jamie told them.

"Well, that's the problem. Sanzo is an Akuma; one I've converted to obey me."

"What!?" Dylan shouted out without really thinking, and then pulled his Innocence and pointed it at Sanzo, who stepped back and put his hands up defensively. "You're an Akuma."

Calmly, Sanzo replied. "Yes, but as Master Cross just said, I have been converted by him. I am no longer your enemy."

"Calm down, boy." General Cross said. "Sanzo is not a threat to you or the Order anymore. He only obeys my commands, and should the time come when the conversion effect wears off, he is set to self-destruct immediately." He explained, although Dylan still stood with his sword pointed at Sanzo. "There is no need to worry, Dylan."

Dylan continued to stare at Sanzo as if waiting for him to screw up and attack just so he would have an excuse to destroy him. But after a moment more he took a breath and lowered his weapon, putting it back on his side. "Fine, I'll believe the General." He said with an unaccepting tone, and then nodded to Jamie to drop her Innocence.

Jamie did so, the white light vanishing from her body and then Sanzo leaned down to wrap some bandages around her wound while Cross spoke with Dylan. "So General, what is it you wanted to speak with me about?"

"Right," Cross began, setting down a glass of wine in his hand. "Dylan, why is it you are here in Edo? Surely you must have a specific reason for coming all this way?"

To answer, Dylan held up his Innocence. "I'm tracking someone. A Noah by the name of Tyki Mikk." He said, pointing out the sparks emitted by his Innocence. "By injecting tiny fragments of my Innocence into his arm that even he is unable to notice, I can use the main body of my Innocence to track the fragments. Eventually, I found myself at the coast of China, learned about the Exorcists that came here and did so myself, in pursuit of the Noah."

"So your reasons for coming here are your own? You did not come here for the Order?" Cross confirmed.

"No, but I have made the decision that once I kill Tyki Mikk, I will return to the Order." Dylan told the General, who only knew of the Dylan that had no desire to be found by them. "When we first met, you asked me if I had something against the Order and I told you no. The real reason I left was because of my Innocence's prophecy. But now I'm past that and want to return."

"I see... let me ask you Dylan; are you aware of the entire situation here in Edo?"

"No, I've only seen the giant Akuma fighting and other Level 3's saying that the Earl wanted the Generals in Edo found."

"Well then I'll tell you what's happening. Right now, the Millennium Earl is here in Edo; as well as a number of other Noah, including the one you are searching for."

When told this, Dylan's eyes went wide. "The... Earl is here?"

"Yes, I am here on a mission to destroy the Akuma Egg, which is how the Earl creates Akuma. Right now, a number of others have come to Edo and have gotten caught up in a battle with those giant Akuma you see." Cross explained, and the two of them looked over at the huge monsters. "I' will need to head to them soon, but what will you do; now that this young girl with you is injured? And while we're on the subject, who is she anyways?"

"Her name is Jamie; she the daughter of another Exorcist named Suman Dark whom I've met and found to be an Accommodator of Innocence. She's been traveling with me ever since." Dylan explained.

"Although I more forced myself onto him." Jamie said from the side, listening into their conversation as Sanzo finished wrapping her wound. "Um, Mister General, do you know my Papa?" She asked.

"Unfortunately, I don't." Cross answered. "I haven't been back to Headquarters in many years, so I don't even know of a man named Suman Dark." Of course that made sense. Suman had only been in the Order for a few months longer than Dylan, and General Cross had been absent from Headquarters for even longer than that, so of course he didn't know about all the Exorcists joining Order or the one's dying. "So I'll ask my earlier question again; What do you plan to do now?"

Now, Dylan looked down and thought about that question. He had already established that Jamie's safety needed to come before everything else and that he had to get her out of danger immediately. Right now, there was a large group of Exorcists in Edo fighting. Among them, two here were Generals, the strongest the Order had to offer, so surely they could handle the situation here without him, right? But then again, here as well were a number of Noah, who were the leaders and creators of the Akuma, including the Millennium Earl himself.

"If you are worried about the other Exorcists who are currently here, don't be." Cross interrupted Dylan's thoughts, apparently realizing what his concerns were. "The number of capable Exorcists in Edo right now has exceeded usual amounts, and if anything goes wrong, I will also be here."

The General sounded incredibly confident on this matter, even going so far as to not include himself in the original equation of the Exorcist's success, basically saying he is a last resort that shouldn't need to be used. Hearing that made Dylan feel reassured, and so he looked back up at Cross.

"I need to get Jamie out of here. She can't even fight against a Level 3 properly yet because her Innocence is too weak. Can I leave the Exorcist's here to you?" Dylan asked.

At that question, Cross smirked. "Ah, you can leave it to me." He answered.

"Good," Dylan said, and then walked over to Jamie, picking her up.

"Oh, Dylan it's alright. I can walk now." Jamie argued, but Dylan didn't care and continued to carry her.

"Also General, can I ask you to do me a favor?" Dylan asked.

"What is it?" Cross inquired into the nature of the favor.

"Could you keep us a secret from the Order still? I will return to the Order myself, but I don't want them knowing about me yet."

Hearing the request, Cross grinned. "Don't worry, I wouldn't tell them about you anyways." He told Dylan.

"I see, well, can I also ask this of you? If you see the Noah named Tyki Mikk, kill him."

Once more, Cross smirked at the question in a way that looked like he found it amusing. "Very well. If I see him, I will kill him for you."

Just then, something strange happened to one of the two monstrous Akuma in the distance. The giant Akuma looked as if it was caught in some kind of net and was bent into a strange position. Only seconds after that, the entire head of the giant collage of Level 3's was cut clean in two from one attack. The sight surprised Dylan and Jamie, and they looked at where it feel for a moment before Cross commented.

"You see? I told you the number of capable Exorcists here was staggering." Cross told Dylan, showing him he had nothing to worry about with leaving, and then stood up, for some reason placing his hat on one of the chickens surrounding the small house, and made to go toward the battlefield.

"Wait!" Jamie spoke and stopped General Cross from leaving, who turned back to her as she got Dylan to put her down and she walked to the General. "Thank you for this General." She said, putting out her left hand to shake his.

Smiling at her, Cross took her hand, but then noticed a large ring on her thumb and stopped. "Young lady, may I ask where you got this ring?" He asked Jamie, holding her hand up to show off the ring.

Looking at it, Jamie answered. "We found it in the debris of a ship we found on our way here. It seemed like this was important somehow, so I kept it." She said, looking slightly saddened from recalling the scene.

After looking at the ring another moment, Cross spoke again. "I see, it is certainly beautiful." He stated, smiling down on Jamie once more before letting go of her hand and turning away again. "Sanzo!"

"Yes, Master?" The Akuma replied in response to Cross' shout.

"I want you to accompany these two." He told Sanzo, which surprised Dylan and Jamie quite a bit. "See to it you keep them safe, and listen to their orders. Understood?"

"Yessir!" Sanzo replied immediately.

"Wow, wait a second!" Dylan cut in, not very comfortable with the idea of having an Akuma with him all the time, even if it was converted to fight for them.

"Dylan," Cross spoke, stopping Dylan from arguing, and half turned his head to look at him. "Soon, the Order is going to need strong Exorcists like you. I can tell you will be important in the future; so take Sanzo and use him for your goals. I'm sure you'll find him most useful."

As Cross said this to Dylan, a new development happened at the battle in the distance. A huge orb of energy grew out and expanded to envelop a huge area, and detonated without quite reaching where the thy were, but what it had covered was instantly wiped out into a flat plain.

"The main battle here is about to begin. I suggest you leave here as quickly as possible to avoid getting caught up in it yourself." Cross added, and then began walking toward the battlefield, leaving Dylan and Jamie with Sanzo.

Once he was gone beyond the trees, Sanzo spoke. "Well, you heard the Master, I'll be going with you guys then."

Dylan looked back at him, a look of disapproval crossing his face, but he accepted it anyways, trusting in General Cross. "Alright, we need to hurry then." He said, and then picked Jamie up despite her complaints and they began running back toward the ocean to get out of Edo and into safety.

Sanzo lead them, stopping them a few times along the way in order to keep other Level 3's still searching for General Cross from finding them. Knowing now that Sanzo was an Akuma himself, it made sense how he seemed to realize when they were about to pass before they could be seen or heard. Originally he had just thought that with this many Akuma in one place, any human's left must have just learned how to hide themselves in order to survive.

But on their way back, something else happened to the fast changing scenery of Edo. The sky suddenly began to break apart with the appearance of puzzle pieces. This odd change in the sky and what it revealed stopped Dylan in his tracks to look at it in awe and wonderment. "What... is that?" He asked, half aiming his question at Sanzo who may actually know the answer.

Jamie as well, looked upon the giant white cube in the sky in amazement. Their eyes were only taken away from it by Sanzo supplying them with the answer to what exactly the thing was. "Noah's Ark." He stated the name of the object in a monotone voice. Jamie and Dylan looked at Sanzo upon hearing the familiar term they knew from the bible and listened as Sanzo continued. "The base of operations of the Noah clan, 35 years ago it was disabled and ever since stuck in Edo.

"That is why this country has become the housing of Akuma that reach Level 3, and why Japan became closed off to the rest of the world." Sanzo continued. "Currently, the Earl is in the process of completing the download of this Ark to a new one. And it has been revealed like this because there's not much time left before its done."

Dylan looked up at the Ark for a moment and then checked his Innocence. As he thought, he found the sparks were pointing directly at Noah's Ark, meaning that Tyki Mikk was definitely on that structure right now. He was so close to Dylan, and yet completely out of reach.

But then an idea popped into Dylan's head that hadn't been a possibility until now. "Hey Sanzo," He began, without looking away from the Ark. "If I... entrusted Jamie to you; could you get her out of Edo on your own?"

It was obvious what Dylan was thinking with that question. Jamie couldn't stay in Edo no matter what, so Dylan had to get her out as quickly as possible. But now that Sanzo was helping them, he could take Jamie out of Edo himself, which would then allow Dylan to stay and fight with the Exorcists here, and then afterward get back to Jamie and head to the Order with the other Exorcists as originally planned.

However, when asked that question, Sanzo replied with a sigh. "It's useless." He said, to which Dylan looked at him confused. "You can't get into that Ark anymore, it's just been locked down for the final part of the download."

"What, then why is Tyki Mikk still in there?" Dylan asked, since if there was no way in or out, he would be trapped inside.

"Another of the Noah have the capability of getting them out once it is needed. As for why he is there at all, it seems that a number of the Exorcists have been drawn into the Ark just before locking it down with the intention of letting them die with its collapse."

"What!?" Dylan asked apprehensively.

"Don't worry, Master Cross has a plan, and had made his way onto the Ark as well. He can stop the Ark's download and save the Exocists, so you don't need to worry about this battle. You're priority should be getting out of Edo as soon as possible."

Dylan didn't like it, but Sanzo was right. If Dylan couldn't even get into the Ark, then there was nothing he could do now. All he could do is get Jamie to safety and hope that General Cross came through for the rest. "...Alright." Dylan finally said. "Let's get out of here." And with that, the group continued to move for Edo's shore.

But when the three of them were about to finally reach the shore, Sanzo, who was leading them, stopped suddenly in his tracks and dropped to his knee. Assuming it must be more Akuma that were near, Dylan dropped to his knee and he and Jamie kept silent as bet they could.

But at the same time Dylan looked out to try and see what the situation was, and when he did, it was worse than simply Level 3's about to pass by. Rather, there were two Level 3 Akuma standing at the shoreline over the broken remains of a rowboat, which Dylan and Jamie had seen coming in and assumed the other Exorcist must have used to close the remaining gap to Edo after the ship they were originally traveling in was destroyed somehow, having passed its carnage on their own way in.

But most importantly, the two Level 3's appeared to be looking over in their direction, like they had been noticed. The thought made Dylan extremely nervous, and then he looked over at Sanzo only to see that he also had a nervous expression on his face, meaning the thought that the other two Akuma had noticed them seem all the more likely.

But still they remained as still and silent as possible in the hopes the two Akuma might overlook their presence. But even like that, the thoughts running through Sanzo's head were not pleasant ones. (Damn it, they noticed someone's here. If we try to move away now, they'll be sure of it and attack. But we can't well attack with the young lady as she is. We're stuck between a rock and a hard place here with no way out...)

But then Sanzo's thought were interrupted by a whisper from behind him. "Sanzo," Dylan spoke to Sanzo with as light a voice as he could use as Sanzo turned to see him placing Jamie lightly onto the ground. "If those Akuma get past me, you are to protect Jamie with your life."

Dylan said this, which obviously meant he planned to attack the Level 3's on his own. But before Sanzo or Jamie could even raise voice in opposition of this plan, Dylan used the metal plates of Innocence on his feet to burst him forward and out of hiding. At the moment he did, the two Level 3 Akuma in front of him saw him, but Dylan hoped that he would be able to at least take out one of them with the surprise strike like he had against the first pair he had attacked coming into Edo and make the battle just that much easier.

However, Sanzo had to hold himself back from shouting out and revealing there were more than one person hidden in an attempt to stop Dylan because he already knew that there was something wrong about the two Akuma at the shore. Akuma could sense the presence of other Akuma, they had to so they would know who in a crowd was an Akuma and who were the humans that they were meant to kill. An Akuma could repress their presence if it became necessary to even stay hidden from other Akuma, but even after Sanzo saw those two, he could not sense their presence at all. Even if they were repressing it, if the Akuma were in direct view like they were here, Sanzo should have been able to sense at least something from them, but that had not been the case here; so he knew that Dylan had just launched himself straight into a trap, even if he didn't know exactly what kind of trap it was.

But the kind was soon made plainly transparent when Dylan swung his sword across the bodies of the two Level 3 Akuma. First off, neither one had even twitched in reaction to Dylan and just stood there like statues. And then, once Dylan's sword had cut through them, no blood was spilled. Rather, Dylan's Innocence past through both of them like they were made out of air.

Dylan was stunned, but he didn't even have a chance to think through the possibilities of what it could mean before the two Akuma in front of him faded out like illusions, and then another Akuma, likely the perpetrator of this trick, ran out from behind nearby cover and grabbed Dylan's shirt collar before he could react and threw him straight up into the air.

Dylan went high into the air over the trees, and when he did saw a second Akuma also jump up into the air to be level with Dylan. "Idiot Exorcist. You should just die and rot!" The Akuma told Dylan, and at the same time swung its leg through the air in Dylan's direction.

The Akuma did not move close enough to actually hit Dylan with that kick, but instead, a slice of Dark Matter ran through the sky, making to cut Dylan in two. When Dylan, saw this, he immediately made to avoid it by pushing himself out of the way using the plates at his feet. Dylan was instantly shot out of range of the Dark Matter attack and then spun himself over and balanced in mid air on the plates.

Slowly but surely, Dylan was beginning to get used to fighting in mid air with the plates on his feet, and was beginning to learn how to balance on them in a short time without difficulties. This fighting method he had come up with in a desperate attempt to combat Tyki Mikk in Barcelona was starting to become one of the best techniques he could use in battle with Akuma who could levitate and fly around in the air out of his usual range.

Once he had gotten balance in mid air, Dylan shot himself toward the Akuma that was also in the air and changed his Innocence into the form of a heavy axe. But Suddenly on his way in that direction, the Akuma that had thrown him into the air just appeared in front of him out of nowhere. In surprise, Dylan reflexively stopped and pulled himself back, but almost immediately afterward realized he had been duped a second time.

The illusion faded away and Dylan looked back to see the first Akuma fly up and grab him from behind, wrapping his arms around Dylan to restrain him. "Well look here, the Exorcist can fly. Let's ground this bird." The Akuma said.

Once it had, it gripped Dylan's shirt again and spun him around before Dylan could do anything against him and threw him hard at the ground. Dylan tried to keep himself airborne with the plates on his feet, but it wasn't enough leverage against the force of the Akuma's throw. So instead, Dylan pointed his Innocence at the ground and morphed it into a spiked tip and extended it to stab into the ground, giving it some elasticity like a a pole vault rod and it kept him from hitting the ground.

Afterward, Dylan used the stretched back Innocence and the plates on his feet to shoot him back up at the Akuma like a catapult and morphed his weapon into a spear. He stabbed the spear at the Akuma, but it didn't back down and grabbed Dylan's spear with its bare hand and stopped Dylan. But then Dylan acted and sent a jolt of electricity through his Innocence and shocked the Akuma.

The shock completely caught the Akuma off guard, but after a second it let go and flew back to get away from Dylan. Dylan was about to chase after it, but the second Akuma flew forward to take its place and swung one of its legs once it past its partner. Like the first time, a wave of Dark Matter flew out toward Dylan with the swing of the Level 3's limb, but this time Dylan morphed his Innocence into a shield and blocked the attack. It didn't dissipate immediately, so Dylan used his shield and deflected the path of the energy wave away from him and then charged at the Akuma to close the gap between them and morph his Innocence into a sword again, swinging the blade at the Akuma's throat.

But the Akuma was too fast and ducked below the attack. It was about to strike Dylan like that, but Dylan moved first this time and lifted one of his feet to show the electrified plate on its sole and kicked the Akuma in its face. The Akuma was shocked by the electrified plate and struck down toward the ground, but it quickly caught its balance and flew back up beside its partner.

For a moment the battle froze and both sides just looked at each other, scoping the other out with what they had just learned of their powers to formulate a plan. "Damn Exorcist." The Level 3 that could make illusions growled. "This guy is going to give us more trouble than he's worth Nagasaki." He added, referring to his partner by its name.

"We just can't hold back then. We'll finish this before Noah's Ark has completed its download." The Level 3 by the name of Nagasaki replied.

"Hee, sound's like a plan to me."

"We'll teach this Exorcist what happens when he tries to pick a fight with us, Hiroshima."

Meanwhile, Sanzo watched the battle between those Level 3's and Dylan with a nervous sweat dripping down his face. He knew this wasn't a good idea, but it wasn't like they had a better one from the get go. Sanzo wanted to do something to help, but Dylan had told him to protect Jamie at all cost, and only fight if the Akuma got past him. Cross had told him to follow Dylan's and Jamie's orders, and so Sanzo could not disobey even if he wanted to.

He had been given the priority of keeping Jamie safe above all else, and so protect her he would, hoping it wouldn't become necessary.


	35. Breaker

_35th Dusk: Breaker_

The two Level 3 Akuma called Nagasaki and Hiroshima had already decided on what they needed to do. Confronted with Dylan, who was strong enough to fight them on at least semi-equal footing, they decided that they couldn't let themselves go easy. Put bluntly, it meant that those two Akuma would attack with full power 100% of the time from here on out.

Dylan was not optimistic about his situation. The first Level 3 he had battled against ended with the death of the three other Exorcists that were helping him at the time. Even four-on-one, the Level 3 had not been defeated easily by any stretch of the imagination, so Dylan had found it amazing that when he arrived, he had managed to kill one Level 3 with a surprise attack, and defeat another in actual combat much more easily.

It was not the Dylan had managed to grow in strength that much since his first encounter with a Level 3, that simply wasn't possible. But it also couldn't have been pure luck either. No, most likely, the reason the Level 3's he fought when he first arrived here were so much easier to kill than the first one he had fought in Barcelona had nothing to do with him, but with the Akuma themselves. It was quite likely that there was a structure difference between the strengths of the Levels 3's in the same way that each Level 2 Akuma had a different appearance and special power.

That was the only explanation that would make any sense to Dylan. However, at the current time, it seemed that the Akuma before him were not going to be going down as easily as the ones prior. It may be partially due to the fact that Dylan had not been able to surprise these two as well as he had the first pair, but he also suspected they were tougher. The Auma named Hiroshima had already displayed his ability to grab Dylan's sword with it's bare hands, so it was likely as tough as his original opponent. Although the Akuma Nagasaki on the other hand had shown a much greater worry of Dylan's weapon and dodged his attacks rather than block.

If what Dylan assumed proved right, then that meant that Nagasaki was the weak link in their team, and that it would be easier to destroy it before focusing on Hiroshima. Dylan wanted to think of some kind of strategy to take these Akuma down with, but before he could, Hiroshima began moving. Dylan readied himself with his sword held out, but as Hiroshima approached, it used its special ability.

The Akuma Hiroshima created about 20 illusions of itself that were all heading straight for Dylan. Of course Dylan knew already that the illusions Hiroshima created were not physical and could do no harm to him, but the purpose of those illusions were simply meant to hide the Akuma's exact location so Dylan couldn't figure out which one to attack before he attacked it.

But Hiroshima had underestimated Dylan's capabilities. Morphing his Innocence into a gatling gun, Dylan aimed the machine to the side and began rapid firing bullets while moving the gun to the side. By doing so, he put a rain of bullets and shot through all of the illusions in the hope of striking the real one along the way.

Each time a bullet flew through an illusion, the illusion dissipated, but when the real Hiroshima was approached by the rain of bullets, he let all the illusions drop and circled out of the way of the bullets while continuing toward Dylan. Dylan stopped firing his gun to conserve ammunition and stared at the Level 3. At the same time, he began controlling all of the already fired bullets that had soared behind Hiroshima and had them round back to strike it from behind before it knew what hit it.

However, Dylan had failed to take into account that Nagasaki would see this happen and be able to warn Hiroshima. "Hiroshima, behind you!" Nagasaki did not sound genuinely worried for its partner, but rather was likely only warning Hiroshima because it knew that it would be much more difficult to kill Dylan if it was on its own.

Hearing Nagasaki's warning, Hiroshima stopped where it was and, rather than turn to see what was behind it, shot itself straight up into the air in an attempt to dodge whatever it was. Once it was high up, it looked back down to see the number of bullets that had been flying back at him, and cursed Dylan for the trick. "Damn you, Exorcist!"

Dylan did not bother replying to the Akuma's rage and instead controlled the numerous bullets still and curved them up at Hiroshima again. At that time, Hiroshima made a number of copies again, and they all began flying around. Since Dylan couldn't be sure which one was the real Hiroshima, he scattered the bullets to go for all of them. However, while he did that, Nagasaki acted as well.

Nagasaki held its arms to the side and Dark Matter visibly gathered around them. After a moment, the Akuma swung its arms from side to side and released the Dark Matter it stored as a large energy wave that targeted Dylan. Seeing it coming from the corner of his vision while keeping most his focus on Hiroshima, Dylan used the plates at his feet to pull him down and below the energy wave, and then shifted his focus to Nagasaki.

Hiroshima may be able to make a number of illusioned copies, but none of the copies could be used for actual combat, so unless the real Hiroshima attacked, it couldn't do anything. But Nagasaki's ability allowed it to attack from a distance without approaching Dylan. This made it easier for Dylan to avoid, but if he were to continually try to avoid Hiroshima's close-combat and Nagasaki's long-ranged attacks coming at him all at the same time, this battle would begin to get very difficult before long. To avoid that, Dylan had to kill off at least one of the two Level 3s before things got too out of hand.

Currently his bullets were flying around and keeping Hiroshima busy, although once Dylan approached Nagasaki, he wouldn't be able to see the Hiroshima illusions' positions or guide his bullets properly. It could open up a possibility of Hiroshima attacking from behind if it noticed it was not being directly followed, so Dylan had to do this quickly.

Dylan morphed his Innocence into the shape of a sword and stabbed at Nagasaki close range. Of course, Nagasaki wasn't about to just let Dylan strike. Nagasaki jumped over Dylan's blade and pulled its leg back, obviously about to attack with its Dark Matter attack again, but in that second Dylan extended a new blade off the end of his Innocence that climbed up toward Nagasaki's let and forms a cuff on the end, latching onto the Akuma's held back leg and preventing it from using its attack.

"What!?" Nagasaki shouted in anger and surprised as Dylan then made his Innocence elastic like a metal cable and swung Nagasaki around and toward the fray of bullets behind them.

When he did and let go of Nagasaki to throw him away, Dylan accidentally and luckily ended up throwing the long-ranged Akuma right into an approaching Hiroshima, who must have noticed that the bullets trajectories were no long pinpointing him and tried to attack and Dylan expected he might. Doing so knocked both Akuma back and put both them and his bullets back in view. Dylan controlled his swarm of flying bullets and had them all converge directly on the Level 3 Akuma, but sadly that was still not enough to finish them off.

Quickly regaining their balance, Hiroshima and Nagasaki pushed off one another and got out of the direct path of the bullets and, now that they knew Dylan couldn't directly attack them with the bullet if he couldn't see their location, swung around behind his back. Dylan clicked his tongue and quickly had the already converging bullets re merge with his Innocence and turned himself around while at the same time morphing and separating his Innocence into two blades.

This proved to be the right choice, for when he turned he saw both of them about to deliver a kick to him. Dylan put his swords in the way of both their attacks, and when they both struck he noticed a difference in effect. Against Hiroshima, the blade of Dylan's sword was barely scratching the sole of its foot; however, against Nagasaki, blood clearly spilt from where the blade struck and caused him slight pain. This much proved what Dylan had already guessed at that some Level 3s were more durable than others, which put Hiroshima in the same class as the Level 3 he had fought in Barcelona.

That now proven fact still surprised Dylan that he was keeping up with an Akuma of that caliber as well as a second one just about as well as he had kept up with the first one when he had been fighting with allies. Thinking over it, he contributed his current success to the fact he had indeed grown some in strength since Barcelona, that his new fighting tactics including his flight and double weaponry had increased both his skill and his options in battle, and that Hiroshima's ability was not able to directly protect him from attacks like the one in Barcelona had with its Dark Matter barriers.

Dylan pushed away the two Akuma, who also jumped back in knowledge of his Innocence's electric capabilities, which may have been their biggest threat in the fight. Immediately after pushing away, Nagasaki bent its leg back again and this time swung it forward to send another wave of Dark Matter at Dylan. Dylan acted immediately and put his two swords together to form a large shield in front of him, and when he felt the impact of the energy wave, pushed it up and over him before morphing his Innocence back into two swords.

However, he had foolishly covered his vision for a moment when he used his shield, and once he looked forward again saw a number of Hiroshima illusions surrounding him, and at the same moment, they all went in for the attack. Naturally, only the real Hiroshima could harm him, but since Dylan had no idea which of the Hiroshimas coming in at him from all around was the real one, he wasn't able to just block the real one.

Dylan needed to find a way to keep track of Hiroshima amongst his clones to gain an upper hand, and he actually had just the thing to do so with. But first, he had to figure out which one was real, and so first Dylan boosted himself upward with the plates on his feet and morphed his Innocence into a shotgun, pointing it straight down at the gathered Hiroshima.

By firing just once, a spray of bullet fragments fired out over a field that covered the area the Hiroshimas had converged on, which forced the real one out of hiding. The real Hiroshima flew out of the way of the bullets and let the illusions fade. Immediately after, Hiroshima flew up at Dylan again for a direct attack, but when it did, Dylan morphed his Innocence into the form of a hammer and smashed it down on Hiroshima's torso.

Connecting his attack, Dylan electrified the hammer and shocked Hiroshima, but threw him away before the shock could do any major damage. But even so, Dylan had accomplished his task just now. Unbeknownst to Hiroshima, Dylan just used the exact same tactic on it that he was currently using on Tyki Mikk. By covering up the pain of tiny fragments of his Innocence striking Hiroshima's body with the electric shock of his Innocence, Dylan had successfully put tiny tracers on the illusionary Akuma's body. Now, even if Hiroshima used his illusions or even if Dylan wasn't watching him, he would be able to pinpoint his location simply by paying attention to the sparks emitted by his Innocence.

But since Hiroshima was unaware of this trick, he did not think anything was wrong, and called upon its illusions anyways. Five Hiroshimas then moved up at Dylan again while Nagasaki charged a Dark Matter slice from the side, and Dylan controlled the bullets from his shotgun fire to move up at Hiroshima from behind him.

Dylan watched Nagasaki from the corner of his eye as the Akuma swung its arm and sent a wave of Dark Matter at him. However, Dylan did not move from his position. Instead, he morphed some of his Innocence to be a shield strapped onto the side of his arm and held up his sword in the opposite hand as Hiroshima approached.

First, Dylan blocked Nagasaki's energy wave with the shield on his left arm and deflected it. Next, he gripped his sword with both hands and swung it down as the five Hiroshimas approached from different angles. However, thanks to Dylan's tracers, he knew exactly which was the real one and completely ignored the other four. Dylan swung his sword down as hard as he could and cut into Hiroshima's tough armored skin some.

Being caught completely off guard that Dylan was able to tell which one of it was real, Hiroshima made incoherent noises as the sword drove deeper into its shoulder. Hiroshima tried to move back and avoid further damage, but the instant he tried, he was instead met with a brutal strike to the back by the shotgun bullets from earlier. Hiroshima hadn't forgotten about the bullets or Dylan's ability to control their path, but it had expected to have forced Dylan to dodge his attack with the copies and move further forward, where it would have then turned around and dealt with them. But since it was caught completely by surprise, they instead smashed into its back and attempted to pierce its body. But luckily for it, the bullet were not quite able to drill straight through Hiroshima and only cut a bit into its back.

At that time, even through the pain it was currently in, Hiroshima threw its leg up and smashed it into Dylan's side, sending him toward Nagasaki and off of it. Hiroshima then twisted itself which allowed the bullets at its back to pass upward, although they soon rounded back around at him even though Dylan shouldn't have a clear view of it at that moment.

As Dylan barreled toward Nagasaki, he realized that Hiroshima's physical strength was indeed on par with the Level 3 he had fought in Barcelona, once more confirming his suspicions on the difference between the strengths and abilities of Level 3 Akuma. At that time, Nagasaki readied another Dark Matter attack and let it loose at him. Dylan slowed himself to a stop with the plates on his feet and put his shield up to block again. However, this time Nagasaki expected that and had a second attack already prepared. Before Dylan could deflect the first wave, Nagasaki threw a second one on top of it, increasing the force against Dylan. While the energy waves pushed against Dylan, Nagasaki came in close under Dylan's shield and punched him in the gut.

The attack connected, and though Dylan could feel it wasn't quite as powerful as Hiroshima's, it still managed to throw him down some. When he did get thrown down, Hiroshima came up from behind him and made to punch him itself. However, Dylan did not even try to dodge this attack because the sparks emitted from his Innocence told him that it was not the real Hiroshima. So instead of paying attention to the bluffed illusion, Dylan turned himself around where the real Hiroshima was still running from the bullets.

"You can't fool me any more Akuma." Dylan told Hiroshima.

But when he did, Hiroshima became enraged and flew straight for him while ignoring the bullets following him. Dylan morphed his Innocence into a sword and readied for its attack. When Hiroshima came close, Dylan stabbed his blade's tip at the Akuma's face, but instead of attacking head on, Hiroshima leaped directly over him and stopped right behind him.

Because of that, the bullets that had been following Hiroshima were now heading straight at Dylan. With Dylan's Innocence fragments not only could he track where Hiroshima was at all times, but he didn't even have to directly influence his bullets to have them fly after it. Instead, the fragments acted like magnets that drew the bullets toward Hiroshima without his assistance. Hiroshima probably guessed that something along those lines was happening, since the first time Dylan couldn't make the bullets follow him, so this time he must have had something that allowed it to work. Because of that, Hiroshima thought that by doing this Dylan might get caught in his own attack.

However, Dylan was not that easy to catch. Instead, Dylan took direct control of his bullets back, merged them back with his Innocence's main body and turned around to swing his sword at Hiroshima again. But when he did, Hiroshima once again displayed his incredible durability by catching Dylan's sword with its bare hand. In the same second, Hiroshima brought up its legs and smashed them at top strength into Dylan's gut.

The force and strength of the kick made Dylan cough up blood and probably cracked a few ribs as it sent him flying down towards the ground. Dylan used his Innocence enough so that he did not break any more bones, but that one attack in itself was enough to put him in critical position. Worse, before Dylan could even get back up, Nagasaki had closed in on him to attack. From a close range, Nagasaki threw a Dark Matter wave, and for the first time that attack struck Dylan's body directly.

However, despite the direct hit, the attack did not cleave Dylan's body in two. Rather, that energy exerted a force on Dylan's body that felt like he was being crushed. Dylan practically felt like it had crushed his heart, but he managed to stay alive though the pain.

But even so, his body was weak, and so the Akuma named Nagasaki grabbed Dylan by the throat and began squeezing. "Finally," Nagasaki breathed in frustration. "It's about time this Exorcist just went ahead and croaked. Now I'll enjoy squeezing the last bit of life out of him." It said, tightening its grip on Dylan's throat.

Sadly, Dylan was so limp he was barely showing the pain of being choked. But even in that situation, Dylan still tried to think of a way out of this. (No... I can't die...) Dylan's thought went on in his head, and then a stupid idea came to mind. In one last act of desperation, Dylan clutched his Innocence in his hand and sent an electric voltage up through his own arm in order to shock the Level 3 gripping his neck.

Caught completely off guard, Nagasaki yelled in pain and let go of Dylan out of pure instinct and put distance between them. Thanks to that, Dylan fell to his knees and choked for air. And even though he looked that helpless, when he looked back up at the pair of Level 3 Akuma, his expression was anything but. Even in that situation Dylan still looked as determined as ever.

And with that determination, he spoke out loud to himself. "Not a chance..." He muttered while attempting to stand back up. "The two of you... aren't even Noah. I swore to return to the Order after I killed Tyki Mikk. So there is not way I can lose here now, without even coming close!" As Dylan roared that last part out, he got back onto his feet and clenched his teeth at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

"Shut your mouth Exorcist! You've already lost." Nagasaki exclaimed and then held one of its arms back and began charging an especially strong Dark Matter wave. "Just watch, you won't even have enough strength left to dodge this attack!"

As the Akuma readied its attack, Dylan focused all his energy onto his Innocence. (More...) He thought to himself. (I need more strength. More power!) Dylan was calling out to his Innocence for help in a desperate desire for victory. As he did, an electrical current swirled around the blade and slowly grew stronger. (More grow stronger. Give me strength; enough strength to win, enough to destroy the Akuma, to kill the Noah...)

Dylan's thoughts continued, and Nagasaki finished charging his attack. With that power stored up behind him, the Akuma let the attack burst forward at Dylan in one concentrated strike. It was fairly close-range, so Dylan only had a moment more to react. With that moment, Dylan pulled back his Innocence and prepared to attack as well. At the same time, he gave one last pleading thought to his Innocence, (Give me enough strength... to protect what I care about!)

And at that moment, Dylan could feel it. He could feel the energy of his Innocence growing and synchronizing even more with him. It was a sensation unlike any he had felt before, and yet he knew exactly what it meant. He had been told about this once before by General Cloud Nine while the two of them were making their way back to Headquarters. Dylan could feel his Innocence synchronization rate growing higher and higher to new levels he had never achieved before now.

And at that same time, something happened at the headquarters of the Black Order, even though Dylan had not been there in years. Komui and Reever Wenhamm took the platform elevator to reach Hevlaska due to a rare event occurring with the Innocence she held inside her.

When Komui arrived, Hevlaska warned him, "Don't get to close Komui, you'll be hit."

Hevlaska was referring to the grand light coming from within her that she held back as best she could. "Heva!" Komui called out to Hevlaska.

"Painful..." Hevlaska muttered out loud. "The cubes inside me are resonating. Rampaging like babies..."

"Is the Critical Point appearing?" Komui questioned.

"The 'Critical Point'!" One of the Great Generals, the five who were above Komui stated. "The one with a Synchro rate of over 100%."

"I don't know who it is but... he is appearing!" Hevlaska said while struggling against the great light in her. "The 'Critical Point'! The Exorcist who will become a new General... is appearing!"

Komui heard those words, and when he did, a single name popped into his head. A young Exorcist by the name of Allen Walker, despite his young age, entered Komui's mind as if someone else put it there for him.

But there was something that nobody was aware of. Something that not Komui, not Reever next to him, not any of the Great Generals knew. Not even Allen Walker, who was in fact exceeding the Critical Point while fighting against the very Noah Dylan was searching for: Tyki Mikk; not even Dylan fighting Level 3 Akuma while also in Edo; and not even Hevlaska who was feeling the awakening of someone passing the Critical Point herself was at all aware of.

That something that not a single person in the world knew was happening was that there was not one, but two people exceeding the Critical Point at the exact same time. One was the very person those at the Order somehow knew was doing so, Allen Walker, and the other was the man that Komui had not seen in years and had no way of knowing was even in Edo, Dylan Aiken.

With that power, Dylan swung his Innocence sword forward and pointed it directly at the Akuma named Nagasaki past its Dark Matter wave and released the power in one powerful attack in the form of a lightning bolt. Up until now, Dylan was only capable of channeling the electricity directly through his Innocence into whatever it was in contact with, but now that power had evolved and Dylan was capable of releasing that energy to attack from a distance in an even more lethal voltage.

The lightning strike struck through Nagasaki's Dark Matter wave, and then continued on to strike Nagasaki itself in the same second. Pierced with that lightning, Nagasaki screamed in agony, and in the next second, blew up. Having witnessed this scene, Hiroshima was so shocked that it just remained floating where it was and looked at Dylan, who looked back at it with cold hard determination with his sword pointed forward, electricity still swirling around the blade like a threat to be used at any moment.

"Critical Point Breaker..." Dylan spoke, declaring his new power that would have given him the rank of General in the Order. "...Blood-Sworn Knight, activate!"

Hearing those words, the remaining Akuma, Hiroshima, clenched its fists in rage. It screamed a single phrase at Dylan to represent its utter loathing for him. "**DAMN YOU, EXORCIST!**"

And now, that battle was about to draw to a close.


	36. After Edo

_36th Dusk: After Edo_

"**DAMN YOU, EXORCIST!**" The Level 3 Akuma named Hiroshima cursed Dylan for his comeback in the battle. With Nagasaki dead, Hiroshima's chances of victory were reduced significantly, and the fact Dylan had just unlocked a new level of power did not help those odds.

But despite Hiroshima's rage, Dylan face now only showed conviction. Any residual fear or pain that may have been there earlier was removed when he achieved Critical Breaker. All that remained was to finish things off with Hiroshima.

"It's time, Blood-Sworn Knight." Dylan stated the new name of his Innocence again, holding the sword pointed at Hiroshima.

"Don't screw with me!" Hiroshima shouted at Dylan in anger and what sounded like actual fear, which Dylan felt was uncharacteristic of the living weapon known as Akuma. "Don't think just because you killed Nagasaki you can kill me! Nagasaki was second-rate, I'm a close-combat type Level 3; I'm not as easy to take down!" Hiroshima proclaimed this information in a poor attempt to strike fear back into Dylan.

But that was not going to work, Dylan no longer held any such fear for the Level 3 in front of him. Even if one or even two more Level 3 Akuma showed up right now for backup, Dylan doubted that fear would return. That was simply the amount of confidence holding his improved weapon gave Dylan. It was strange even, but Dylan felt as if he was not fighting alone, like his Innocence was truly supporting him in this battle.

Because of that feeling, Dylan felt no fear. "You're wrong, Akuma." Dylan said with a calm, steady voice. "You don't have a chance of winning anymore. Any chance you had... just died."

Hearing those words, Hiroshima held back another scream and tried to relax. "No, Exorcist... you're wrong." It growled back at Dylan. "I'll show you... that I am stronger."

With that said, Hiroshima began walking closer to Dylan while at the same time creating a huge number of copies around it to hide his real body. The copies continued to stretch out in a mass and create a circle around Dylan, making it to where the real Hiroshima could move around behind the copies and be anywhere. But Hiroshima was still unaware of the Innocence fragments stuck on it that told Dylan exactly where it was.

Since Hiroshima only was aware of the fact Dylan was somehow keeping track of its position, it probably believed that if it did something as grand as this, he could still elude Dylan. To prove Hiroshima wrong, Dylan stood and morphed his Innocence into a gun. "No, you're not." He spoke to Hiroshima as he held the gun out at a 40 degree angle from where he was facing and pulled the trigger.

A single bullet was shot from Dylan's Innocence and flew in a line straight for the real Hiroshima within the mass of fakes. Realizing instantly that the bullet was aimed straight at its head, Hiroshima let the illusions drop and put its arms up in front of its face to defend against the attack.

The bullet smashed into Hiroshima's arm and drove itself half way into it. The force of the bullet continued forward on Dylan's command and was pushing Hiroshima backwards as it continued to drive further into the Akuma's arm in an attempt to reach its head. As the Level 3 attempted to fight back against the bullet, it growled in the pain and pushed its arms away from its head. Hiroshima managed to bring itself to a stop and then began pushing the bullet back. While it began to win against the amazing force of the bullet in its arm, Hiroshima cursed Dylan once more for his resistance."Damn... you... Exor-"

But Hiroshima's words were cut off, because at that point, another gunshot rang out, and a second bullet crashed into Hiroshima's gut. The bullet buried itself deep in the Akuma's body while the bullet in its arm continued pushing back against it. "You're wide open now, Akuma." Dylan told Hiroshima, who realized all to desperately that it was true.

Hiroshima basically couldn't move with the bullet it its arm pushing back for its head, leaving it a literal sitting duck for Dylan to attack. Glancing past its arms at Dylan, Hiroshima saw him pointing his gun up toward the air and fire three times. With Dylan's control over those bullets direction, the tiny projectiles bent over in the air and came down aimed at Hiroshima's head.

The three bullets smashed into Hiroshima's head one after another and with each one the Akuma screamed in pain. At the moment all three bullets had connected with Hiroshima, Dylan then acted to finish the battle once and for all.

Converting the bullets into something that mimicked gunpowder, Dylan sent a spark of electricity through each one, which caused all five bullets currently embedded in Hiroshima to explode simultaneously.

The explosions created completely engulfed the Level 3 Akuma. As it perished, Dylan could still hear its cries of pain as its body was incinerated and destroyed. With that, the battle was over. With the danger gone, Dylan, whose body had been overly exhausted, collapsed forward onto the ground, and his Innocence deactivated. Hiroshima's and Nagasaki's final attacks had done a lot of damage, and the electric shock he had sent up his own arm to get Nagasaki had been truly the only thing keeping him conscious. With no pillar left supporting him, Dylan's vision began to cloud over.

"Dylan!" Finally able to do something, Jamie immediately got to her feet and rushed to Dylan's side with Sanzo following close behind. "Dylan, are you alright?" Jamie asked, turning Dylan over so that he was facing up.

Just barely conscious now, Dylan turned his head to look at Jamie, but he couldn't get any words out because he was just that exhausted. He could feel his mind forcing him into sleep to recuperate the damage done, and being unable to hold himself awake, Dylan fell unconscious at last.

"Dylan! Dylan!" Jamie shouted, trying to get Dylan to wake back up to be sure he was still alive.

"It's alright, Young Miss." Sanzo tried to calm Jamie. "He's just lost consciousness, his life is not in danger."

"Really?" Jamie had to be sure, so she put an ear to Dylan's chest, and once hearing a faint heartbeat, breathed with relief. Lifting her head back up, Jamie turned to Sanzo. "We need to get him out of here."

"Indeed," Sanzo agreed. "I can carry you both across the sea in my Akuma form, we will arrive in very little time."

Sanzo stepped closer and picked up Dylan's unconscious form in one arm, and then handed Dylan's Innocence to Jamie. "Hold onto this." He told her, and Jamie took the large sheet of metal in her hands. Next, Sanzo picked Jamie up in his other arm and stood up, preparing to take off his human disguise and reveal his Akuma form. "Hold on tight, Young Miss."

With that warning, Sanzo's human skin peeled off his skin and revealed the Akuma underneath. Jamie looked upon him and was a bit surprised, but only because she had never thought to ask what level Akuma Sanzo was. Like that, Sanzo flew through the air, carrying Dylan and Jamie across the ocean to China.

When next Dylan opened his eyes, he found himself in a bed of an unknown house in an unknown location. Sunlight filled the room from a window next to the bed and Dylan looked around without getting up to see his Innocence leaning against the wall and the other Innocence fragments he carried on a table in the corner.

Dylan gathered his thoughts as he pulled himself to sit up in the bed. He remembered fighting the Level 3's known as Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and just barely defeating them when his Innocence exceeding the Critical Break point and gave him the strength to win. But once he had succeeded in doing that, he blacked out. Sitting up, Dylan found a great number of bandages wrapped around his body and felt many bruises on him as well.

He had taken a huge beating in Edo, so it was no surprise. But Dylan also wondered where Jamie was. She would probably be in the same house keeping an eye on him, so it should be a simple enough matter to find her. He realized that she had probably been worried sick over Dylan falling unconscious like that, so letting her know he was finally up was his first concern.

Dylan got out of the bed and found there was a change of clothes laid out on a chair at the foot of the bed that appeared to be just in case he woke up. Putting the beige long-sleeve shirt and dark baggy pants with a belt on, Dylan took a few deep breaths and bared himself against his injuries; and then turned back to pick up his Innocence by the window.

But when he did, something entered his view outside. The sight made him almost freeze, and as he looked out he saw Jamie fighting with her Innocence. She flew around and attempted to grab onto the Akuma in front of her. But what frightened Dylan was the Akuma itself. Dylan had no idea what had happened after he lost consciousness or for how long he had stayed that way; but one thing he could be sure of by looking out at the scenery was that he was no longer in Edo. And so if he was no longer in that dangerous area of the world that had become the den for Level 3 Akuma, why was Jamie currently fighting against one?

If Dylan had been able to get coherent thoughts through his head, he would have asked himself those questions; but with that scene before his eyes, he could only react. Completely ignoring his own injuries, Dylan grabbed his Innocence and shattered the window, jumping out as he activated it. "Blood-Sworn Knight, activate!" He shouted, which immediately alerted both Jamie and the Akuma to his arrival.

But in a single instant, Dylan morphed his Innocence into a hammer and set plates at his feet to keep him from crashing into the ground. Dylan then swung his hammer down at the Level 3 Akuma to crush it before it could do any harm to Jamie. Seeing this, the Akuma reacted as quickly as it could and leapt to the side to gain fair distance while Jamie stood where she was and shielded her eyes as Dylan's hammer crushed the ground where the Akuma had been standing and sent dust in her face.

Dylan landed on the ground and stared down the Akuma with anger. Without even bothering to turn to Jamie, Dylan shot himself forward with the plates at his feet and morphed his Innocence into a sword to tear the Akuma in two. "Dylan," Jamie called after him for some reason, but Dylan didn't pay attention.

He only focused on the Akuma in front of him and swung his sword. But the Akuma jumped up just in time and flew away from him. Dylan quickly made to go after it, but before he could, Jamie suddenly cut in between him and the Akuma, facing him and spreading her arms out as if to keep him from attacking.

"Dylan, stop." Jamie told Dylan, confusing him to no end. "That's Sanzo." She added.

Hearing that, Dylan really did freeze where he stood and looked past Jamie to the Akuma behind her, who had stopped running and just floated in midair without any indication it would attack. Then the Level 3 in jet black armor lowered itself slowly to stand on the ground, and once it had, human flesh began to cover its body to show its human disguise and prove what Jamie just said.

It did now occur to Dylan that he had never even given thought to what level Sanzo might have been, but thinking back, General Cross had said that Sanzo would prove 'most useful', so this must have been what he meant. Dylan was filled with confusion now, however, at why Sanzo had been fighting with Jamie in the first place. But before he could ask, Jamie gave the answer to it, expecting him to ask.

"We were training my Innocence." Jamie told Dylan.

It actually sounded like a very effective method, too. Jamie was a brand-new Exorcist that had almost no experience with her Innocence; it was amazing enough as it was that she could combat Level 2's just because of her Innocence's abilities and qualities. But even with those special qualities, Jamie's Innocence could not combat Level 3 Akuma very well at all.

It would take forever for Jamie's Innocence to become stronger using the normal method, even taking into account that her Innocence was Parasitic, which increased Synchro rate faster than Equipment, and that she would fight against more Akuma than an average Exorcist in the Order because she was always traveling. Dylan himself had only just exceeded the Critical Break, and it had been over five years since her obtained his Innocence. Factoring all of these variables in, it would still take Jamie years before she could combat Level 3 Akuma at all, much less properly.

However, having the converted Level 3 Akuma Sanzo opened up a unique opportunity. If Jamie fought against Sanzo over and over again, with him being converted by Cross, she did not have to worry about dying just because she was fighting against an Akuma so much stronger than her. And because she would be fighting an Akuma so much more powerful than her over and over, her Synchro rate with her Innocence would likely increase at a much faster rate than Dylan's ever did.

Dylan comprehended all of this and became filled with relief. But when he did, his adrenaline stopped and he suddenly became very aware of his aching injuries again. Because of this, he stumbled and fell forward, but Jamie acted and caught him before he hit the ground. "Dylan!" Jamie cried out in worry for him.

"I'm fine." Dylan assured Jamie. "I'm just exhausted."

"It's not surprising." Sanzo told Dylan. "You were unconscious for ten days."

"What!? Ten days; I've been out that long?" Dylan asked, sounding angry.

"It's all thanks to Hiroshima's and Nagasaki's last attacks, I'd say." Sanzo explained. "Those last two strikes put some serious dents in you; it was amazing you managed to stay conscious as long as you did."

"Come on," Jamie said to Dylan, slinging his arm over her shoulder and then beginning to fly back up to the room he had just jumped out of. "You still need to rest Dylan."

Carrying Dylan back into the room through the shattered window, Jamie sat Dylan back down on the bed and took his Innocence, setting it to the side as it deactivated. Just then, a Chinese man came rushing into the room in a panic. "What's going on? I heard something break." He spoke in English, allowing even Dylan to understand him.

"No, I'm sorry. That was a bit of a false alarm. Dylan has woken up." Jamie explained to the man, who then looked to Dylan and sighed with relief.

"Oh, well that's very good then." The man said and smiled. "So then, Dylan. It's good to finally see you awake, my name is Chang Xu and I've been taking care of you since your friends brought you here."

Dylan nodded in gratitude to Chang. "I appreciate the help, thank you."

"You're quite welcome. Now just lie back down and get more rest; your injuries are going to keep you from doing much for a while longer." Chang told Dylan.

"How much longer?" Dylan asked. "I'd like to get moving as soon as possible."

"It'll probably be another week before your ready to go."

"A week?" Dylan questioned, obviously uncomfortable with staying in one place for such a long time.

"And that might be being generous."

"It's alright Dylan," Jamie tried to calm Dylan. "We don't have to be in a hurry."

In truth, Dylan's discomfort at sticking around wasn't being caused by a desire to get anywhere this time. Rather, it was just that after moving around all the time for so long, staying in one place for only as long as necessary became a habit that was difficult for him to think of stopping. Dylan realized this fact, but it didn't ease his discomfort much.

Just then, Sanzo came into the room. "You need only focus on recovering," He told Dylan. "The Young Miss and I will take care of anything that might happen until you have."

With a sigh, Dylan forced himself to accept all that and laid down in the bed. "Alright, I'll leave it to you." He told Jamie and Sanzo a bit reluctantly.

"Good," Sanzo said, and then stepped to the side as Chang Xu and Jamie left the room.

"I'll bring you some food in a moment." Chang told Dylan as he left.

"Feel better soon." Jamie said with a bright smile as she followed.

Sanzo was about to follow after them as well, but before he did, Dylan spoke to him. "Sanzo, can I speak to you for a moment?"

"Very well," Sanzo said, closing the door and taking a seat in a chair next to Dylan's bed. "What is it?"

"How come you didn't tell us right away that you were a Level 3?" Dylan asked.

"Well, no reason really, I just didn't end up brining it up."

"But what about when I fought Nagasaki and Hiroshima? Couldn't you have helped if you were Level 3?"

Hearing that question, Sanzo sighed. "Master Cross ordered me to obey you, that wasn't a suggestion. I'm not capable of defying Master Cross anymore than a regular Akuma is capable of defying the Mellenium Earl, and you ordered me to stay and protect Jamie. Since I was ordered to listen to you, I couldn't have helped you unless I was given the order to do so." He explained. "But looking at it subjectively, even if I could have, would you have forgiven me for leaving Jamie by herself to help you?"

Asked that question, Dylan closed his eyes. "No, you're right." He admitted. "Thank you for protecting her." He said, apparently being finally past disliking Sanzo just because he was an Akuma. "But one more thing."

"What is it?"

"General Cross had mentioned that you would self-destruct if the conversion effect on you wore off. Just to be clear, how long will it be before that happens?"

"It's not a specific length of time that decides it." Sanzo answered Dylan. "You see, even converted, Akuma cannot suppress their natural urge to kill forever. If I go too long without killing, my natural Akuma instinct will attempt to take over, and once the urge is beyond my control, I will self-destruct.

"Putting it objectively, I believe I can go about two week without killing before my natural instincts attempt to kick in. However, I can easily kill any Akuma outside of Edo, and use that as a means to suppress my natural instincts to kill humans longer. So long as I continue killing other Akuma, I will remain your ally."

"I see, so then, how long has it been since you last killed an Akuma?"

"Four days. The young miss and I cleared out any Akuma in the area then."

"You cleared them out?"

"Yes, Akuma are capable of sensing one another's presence, if there were any Akuma remaining in the vicinity, I would know it." Sanzo explained. "Now, please sir, get some rest." He told Dylan, and left the room.

With a sigh, Dylan closed his eyes and rested. He wouldn't get anything done complaining about the length of time he would be out of commission. With Sanzo training Jamie the way he was, he could trust anything that might happen until then to them. His main focus right now had to be recovering, and with that in mind, Dylan let himself drift back into sleep; and he dreamt. He dreamt peaceful dreams.


End file.
